HEALTH &amp; LIFESTYLE

WHO urges action to prioritise pregnant, lactating women in TB research, vaccine trials

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the global health community to prioritise pregnant and lactating women in research and vaccine trials of tuberculosis (TB) — the world’s most infectious disease.

As per WHO data, every year, an estimated 200,000 pregnant or postpartum women develop TB, yet they remain largely invisible in research and clinical trials. This exclusion leaves critical gaps in evidence, delaying access to life-saving treatment and vaccines for these populations.

Pregnant and postpartum women have an increased risk of developing TB compared with the general population. Moreover, TB disease in pregnancy is also associated with an increased risk of maternal morbidity, complications during birth, and perinatal morbidity and mortality. TB disease puts neonates born to mothers with TB at higher risk of the disease.

“The benefits of TB research must flow to all people with TB, including pregnant and lactating women,” said Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Department for HIV, TB Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

“It is time to prioritise their inclusion — not as an afterthought, but as a fundamental step toward equitable, evidence-based care,” Kasaeva said.

The WHO also released a Consensus Statement, which outlines a comprehensive framework to ensure equitable access to TB innovations for all, including those most at risk. Prepared by over 80 global experts, it covers five themes: preclinical TB research, TB therapeutics research, TB vaccine trials, maternal TB surveillance, and advocacy.

The key actions required in the statement include closing data gaps on TB in pregnancy and postpartum through improved surveillance and reporting, initiating timely preclinical studies to assess efficacy and safety of novel TB compounds and vaccines in pregnancy.

It called on global researchers to include pregnant and lactating women in all stages of TB drug trials and include them in adult TB vaccine research for candidates with a favourable risk-benefit profile and plan for rollout and monitoring.

Further, it urged addressing legal, ethical, and regulatory barriers by engaging and empowering affected communities.

The document also provides a roadmap for product developers, study sponsors, researchers, regulators, ethics committees, government programmes, funders, and civil society to act decisively to advance inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in TB research.

–IANS

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South Asian countries must collaborate to enhance health research, innovations: ICMR

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) South Asian countries must collaborate and work together to strengthen health research and innovations, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday.

The Department of Health Research (DHR) and the ICMR inaugurated a two-day regional meeting in the national capital.

The event, held at the Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, brought together senior representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Timor-Leste to deliberate on strengthening health research systems, facilitate the exchange of good practices, and promote cross-border collaboration in South and Southeast Asia.

“The issues we face are common to all of us, and it is time for our region to move towards shaping its own narrative. Research is the way forward, and by learning from each other’s research ecosystems, we can build stronger systems, generate knowledge that reflects our realities, and translate it into better health for our people,” said Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, DHR, and Director General of ICMR.

Delivering the plenary address, Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, commended the participating countries for their significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of their citizens.

“The progress we see across these countries is a testament to their commitment to health. There is tremendous scope for us to learn from each other, co-create research products, and translate science into action. By working together, we can accelerate progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals across the region,” said Dr. Paul.

The meeting is part of the Regional Enabler for South and Southeast Asia Research for Health (RESEARCH) Platform, which aims to foster solidarity, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration among participating countries.

Representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Timor-Leste also shared health concerns such as anaemia, maternal and child health, tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases, and non-communicable diseases, which affect their populations.

They highlighted the importance of sustained investments in capacity building alongside expanding infrastructure and reiterated their commitment to regional solidarity in advancing health research and innovations.

Over the next two days, the meeting will include deliberations on diverse aspects of health research systems, including governance structures, research financing, mechanisms for prioritising research agendas, and approaches to ensuring transparency and ethics.

Countries will also discuss strategies to foster medical technology innovations, translate research into policy and programmes, and strengthen collaboration across sectors and with international partners.

–IANS

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Australian scientists grow world’s 1st living skin with blood supply in lab

Sydney, Aug 21 (IANS) In a first, a team of Australian scientists has grown the world’s first fully functioning lab-made human skin with its own blood supply. The advance may pave the way for better treatment of skin diseases, burns, and grafts.

The team from the University of Queensland used stem cells to create a replica of the human skin, which had blood vessels, capillaries, hair follicles, nerves, tissue layers, and immune cells.

“This is the most life-like skin model that’s been developed anywhere in the world and will allow us to study diseases and test treatments more accurately,” said lead researcher Abbas Shafiee, a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine scientist from UQ’s Frazer Institute.

“Until now, scientists have been limited in how we study skin diseases and develop new therapies.

“But with a skin model like this, that closely mimics real human skin, we will be able to study diseases more closely, test treatments, and develop new therapies more effectively,” Shafiee said.

He explained that recent advancements in stem cells enabled them to engineer 3-dimensional skin lab models. The team took human skin cells and reprogrammed them into stem cells — which can be turned into any type of cell in the body.

These stem cells were placed in petri dishes, which then grew into mini versions of skin, called skin organoids.

“We then used the same stem cells to create tiny blood vessels and added these to the growing skin,” the scientist said.

“It developed just like natural human skin, with layers, hair follicles, pigmentation, appendage patterning, nerves, and most importantly, its own blood supply,” Shafiee said, in the research published in Wiley Advanced Healthcare Materials.

The skin model, which took six years to develop, can help improve grafts and treatments for inflammatory and genetic skin disorders like psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma, said co-author Professor Kiarash Khosrotehrani from UQ’s Frazer Institute.

“Skin disorders can be difficult to treat, and it’s a real breakthrough to be able to provide hope for people living with chronic conditions.”

–IANS

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Gates Foundation, SK bioscience to deepen cooperation on global health

Seoul, Aug 21 (IANS) SK bioscience Co., the biotech arm of South Korea’s SK Group, said on Thursday it will expand cooperation with the Gates Foundation on next-generation preventive medicines, with a focus on research and development (R&D) for pandemic preparedness.

Officials from SK bioscience and the foundation held a meeting in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss collaboration on vaccine development and global public health projects, the company said in a press release. The meeting came amid Bill Gates’ ongoing trip to South Korea that began Wednesday.

The two sides have previously worked together on several projects, including the development of vaccines for typhoid and paediatric diarrhoea, as well as other antiviral preventive solutions, it said, reports Yonhap news agency.

One of their key achievements was the joint development of SKYCovione, South Korea’s first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, which was commercialised for domestic use in 2022.

Gates, who has led global initiatives on climate change, poverty reduction and public health through the foundation, is visiting South Korea to explore possible cooperation with local pharmaceutical companies on a vaccine supply project for low-income countries, according to industry sources.

The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. met with President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday to discuss cooperation on global health initiatives, the presidential office said.

Gates said he expects South Korea to play an important role in the efforts through innovative products in vaccines and diagnostic equipment.

“The growth of the bioscience sector here in Korea is very impressive,” as seen in the research at the International Vaccine Institute, he said, citing his foundation’s cooperation with SK bioscience and LG.

Gates, also known for his extensive philanthropic work, plans to meet with officials from companies involved in vaccine development and manufacturing, along with relevant government officials, to discuss efforts aimed at strengthening global health initiatives.

He is also expected to use his trip to explore future collaboration with both the government and private sectors.

—IANS

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PLI scheme has significantly brought down cost of rare disease treatment: Govt

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) Rare diseases were included as a focus area under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for pharmaceuticals, which has considerably brought down the treatment cost, an official statement from Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said on Thursday.

Eight drugs for rare conditions have been supported under the PLI scheme, including Eliglustat for Gaucher’s Disease, where the cost of treatment has come down from Rs 1.8–3.6 crore annually to Rs 3–6 lakh, according to Amit Agrawal, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals.

Other supported treatments include Trientine for Wilson’s Disease, Nitisinone for Tyrosinemia Type 1 and Cannabidiol for Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome, among others. He noted that such tangible reductions in treatment costs demonstrate the transformative potential of targeted policy interventions.

Agrawal delivered a special address during the inaugural session of the ‘Rare Diseases Conference 2025’ at FICCI auditorium.

He commended the organisers for bringing focus to an issue of growing significance that has historically not received adequate attention.

He underlined that although rare diseases may appear infrequent individually, collectively they affect nearly one in every twenty individuals — around 5 per cent of the population — making them a major public health concern.

Agrawal also emphasised that the rare disease challenge should be seen through a human lens and as a question of inclusion, not merely a medical or technical problem.

Citing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inclusive vision of ‘Divyangjan’, Agrawal called for a response from government, industry, academia and civil society to address the multifaceted burden faced by patients and caregivers.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s Independence Day address, he recalled: “We are known as the pharmacy of the world but isn’t it the need of the hour to invest in research and development? Shouldn’t we be the ones providing the best and most affordable medicines for the welfare of humanity?”

The Secretary also encouraged corporates to factor in rare disease patients under their CSR initiatives and patient assistance programmes, considering the heavy financial and emotional burden on affected families.

He urged all stakeholders to evaluate their policies, regulations, funding models and programme designs through the lens of inclusivity. He suggested exploring special pathways or regulatory exemptions to address the unique needs of the rare disease community.

—IANS

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MP Guv stresses genetic card matching before marriage to prevent sickle cell

Bhopal, Aug 20 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel on Wednesday emphasised the need for genetic card matching before marriage to prevent sickle cell anaemia, a hereditary disease.

Patel said that early identification and prompt treatment are the most effective ways to prevent sickle cell anaemia.

“The earlier the disease is detected, the greater the chances of controlling it,” he added while addressing a workshop on Sickle Cell Anaemia at the Eklavya Adarsh Vidyalaya Auditorium in tribal dominated Mandla district on Wednesday.

The programme was organised by the Ayush department of the Madhya Pradesh government, an initiative of the Centre government to eradicate sickle cell disease.

While addressing the event, Patel urged people to visit health centres and get themselves tested, pointing out that facilities are available to detect the disease in the mother’s womb as well as within 72 hours of a child’s birth.

He claimed that around seven crore people have been tested across the country, including 1.14 crore in Madhya Pradesh, since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign to eradicate Sickle Cell Anaemia from Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district in 2023.

During the programme, the Governor, who is handling the Centre’s Sickle Cell eradication campaign directly and reviewing the process at least once in month, held an interactive session with children from the tribal community suffering from Sickle Cell Anaemia.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Ayush Minister Inder Singh Parmar said that the main objective of the workshop is to gather knowledge from doctors and traditional Vaidyas for the elimination of sickle cell anaemia and to spread it widely among the people.

He further claimed that the government of India has approved the establishment of an Ayurveda Research Centre in Balaghat, and MoUs are being signed with institutions doing notable work in research.

He added that efforts are underway to preserve the knowledge of traditional Vaidyas by documenting their research and connecting generations-old practices with modern technology.

–IANS

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Europe sets new records for mosquito-borne West Nile virus, chikungunya disease: ECDC

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Europe is experiencing longer and more intense transmission seasons for mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile virus (WNV) infection and chikungunya virus disease, according to a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Wednesday.

The report blamed climatic and environmental factors such as rising temperatures, longer summer seasons, milder winters, and changes in rainfall patterns for the shift.

These conditions combine to create a favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive and transmit viruses.

“Europe is entering a new phase — where longer, more widespread and more intense transmission of mosquito-borne diseases is becoming the new normal,” said Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director.

“ECDC is working closely with all Member States to provide tailored support and timely public health guidance to strengthen Europe’s response,” she added.

The report showed that the mosquito that can spread the chikungunya virus (Aedes albopictus) is now established in 16 European countries and 369 regions, up from just 114 regions a decade ago.

Combined with increasing levels of international travel, this spread makes local outbreaks more likely.

Europe has seen 27 chikungunya outbreaks so far in 2025, a new record for the continent.

For the first time, a locally acquired chikungunya virus disease case has been reported in France’s Alsace region — an exceptional occurrence at this latitude, highlighting the continued northward expansion of the transmission risk.

Further, the distribution of West Nile virus cases in Europe continues to shift, and over the past decade, the infection has been detected in new areas every year. This year, for the first time, infections have been reported in the Italian provinces of Latina and Frosinone, and Sălaj County in Romania.

Europe has also recorded the highest number of West Nile virus cases in three years. ECDC expects infections to continue rising, likely reaching a seasonal peak in August or September.

“As the mosquito-borne disease landscape evolves, more people in Europe will be at risk in the future. This makes prevention more important than ever, both through coordinated public health action and personal protection measures. There is an urgent need to strengthen and scale up efficient, environmentally friendly mosquito control interventions,” said Dr Céline Gossner, Head of Section, Food-, Water-, Vector-borne and Zoonotic Diseases at ECDC.

–IANS

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Study shows omega-3 fatty acids may protect women against Alzheimer’s

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Omega fatty acids could protect against Alzheimer’s disease in women, new research showed on Wednesday.

Scientists from the UK’s King’s College London and Queen Mary University London conducted an analysis of lipids — fat molecules that perform many essential functions in the body — in the blood. They found a noticeable loss of unsaturated fats, such as those that contain omega fatty acids, in the blood of women with Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy women.

They found no significant difference in the same lipid molecule composition in men with Alzheimer’s disease compared to healthy men, which suggests that those lipids have a different role in the disease according to sex. Fats perform important roles in maintaining a healthy brain, so this study could indicate why more women are diagnosed with the disease.

The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, is the first to reveal the important role lipids could have in the risk for Alzheimer’s between the sexes.

“Women are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer’s Disease and are more often diagnosed with the disease than men after the age of 80. One of the most surprising things we saw when looking at the different sexes was that there was no difference in these lipids in healthy and cognitively impaired men, but for women this picture was completely different,” said Dr Cristina Legido-Quigley, from King’s College London.

“The study reveals that Alzheimer’s lipid biology is different between the sexes, opening new avenues for research,” he added.

For the study, the team took plasma samples from 841 participants who had Alzheimer’s Disease, mild cognitive impairment, and cognitively healthy controls, and measured for brain inflammation and damage.

They used mass spectrometry to analyse the 700 individual lipids in the blood.

Saturated lipids are generally considered ‘unhealthy’ or ‘bad’, while unsaturated lipids, which sometimes contain omega fatty acids, are generally considered ‘healthy’.

Scientists saw a steep increase in lipids with saturation — the ‘unhealthy lipids’ — in women with Alzheimer’s compared to the healthy group. The lipids with attached omega fatty acids were the most decreased in the Alzheimer’s group.

The scientists said there is a statistical indication that there is a causal link between Alzheimer’s Disease and fatty acids. But a clinical trial is necessary to confirm the link.

“Our study suggests that women should make sure they are getting omega fatty acids in their diet — through fatty fish or via supplements. However, we need clinical trials to determine if shifting the lipid composition can influence the biological trajectory of Alzheimer’s Disease,” Legido-Quigley said.

–IANS

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IIT Roorkee’s new tool to predict how floods spread disease in cities

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee have developed HyEco — a first-of-its-kind integrated flood-water quality modelling platform which shows how potential disease-causing microbes can travel in floodwaters and where people are most at risk of getting affected.

This novel framework, which also predicts how urban flood waters will spread across a city, was tested during the 2023 Delhi floods.

The results were alarming; over 60 per cent of flooded areas were in the high to very high danger zones, and harmful bacteria (E. coli) in the water were found to be hundreds of thousands of times above safe limits.

Children, in particular, faced infection risks more than double the internationally accepted safety levels when playing in floodwaters.

Floodwaters in many Indian cities mix with untreated sewage and industrial waste, creating a toxic mix that can lead to outbreaks of diarrhoea, cholera, and other dangerous water-borne diseases.

HyEco can help authorities see these threats in advance, identify “health danger hotspots,” and take quick action to protect people, for example, by improving sewage treatment, cleaning drains before monsoons, warning residents through SMS alerts, and using advanced water cleaning methods.

“Floods don’t just damage buildings; they can trigger silent health crises. HyEco gives us the power to see where the danger will be highest, so action can be taken before it’s too late,” said Prof. Mohit P. Mohanty, Department of Water Resources Development and Management, IIT Roorkee.

“This research is a perfect example of science serving society. By helping cities prepare for both the visible and hidden dangers of floods, HyEco can play a vital role in building safer, healthier, and climate-resilient communities in India and around the world,” said Prof. Kamal Kishore Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee.

HyEco is designed to be used not just in India but in flood-prone cities worldwide, from Mumbai to Manila, Jakarta to New Orleans, offering an innovative, science-based solution to reduce the risk of waterborne diseases after floods.

The research supports key government missions, such as the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Swachh Bharat Mission, National Disaster Management Plan, and the National Health Mission.

It also helps meet several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 13 (climate action).

–IANS

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IIT Delhi launches BSL3 lab to foster research on highly infectious pathogens

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) In a bid to revolutionise biomedical and clinical diagnostics research, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Wednesday inaugurated a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) facility.

The new facility will facilitate research on diagnostic devices and therapeutics for class-3 pathogens, marking the first such initiative among leading educational institutions in India.

The achievement represents a major stride in India’s biomedical research capabilities and reaffirms IIT Delhi’s commitment to driving innovation in healthcare technology.

“This new research and testing facility will enable research and innovation in medical diagnostics and therapeutics and support IIT Delhi’s efforts to cater to academia and industries alike in the domain of healthcare research, bringing in scientists and engineers on a single platform to carry out cutting-edge research. It will open up several opportunities for research collaborations with medical institutes in NCR and across India,” said Prof. Arvind Nema, Deputy Director (Operations), IIT Delhi.

The newly launched research facility is located within the Micromodel Complex on the campus under the umbrella of the IIT Delhi’s Central Research Facility (CRF). It would be available for researchers from academia and industry alike on a paid basis as per CRF norms for short- to medium-haul on an assisted basis.

The BSL3 research facility would benefit startups and MSMEs immensely, as they can take up their hardware and personnel inside the facility for speedy iterations without investing in such specialised facilities.

“We are proud to offer a new dimension to the medical diagnostics ecosystem at IIT Delhi. Unlike other such BSL3 facilities in India, this would mark the first time a user can take their medical device inside the unit and test it under the supervision of trained professionals having expertise in class-3 pathogen handling. This will enable hardware and software engineers to debug and fine-tune their diagnostic platform within the facility,” said Prof. Sandeep K. Jha from the Centre for Biomedical Engineering, who is also the faculty-in-charge of the facility.

“This type of assisted entry has not been available in the country before, so device developers had to send their products to specialised BSL3 and BSL4 labs for testing, which made it hard to quickly fix and improve device performance,” said Prof. Ashok K. Patel from the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at IIT Delhi, who co-led this initiative.

–IANS

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