31 October, 2017

Beauty product or poison? Check the ingredients of your cosmetics, warn experts

You could be using a lipstick, foundation or even a shampoo of one of the top-most brands and still be poisoning yourself. Shocked? We rarely check the ingredients in our cosmetics to figure out what we are slathering on our skins. It is only after an allergic reaction when we begin to question what the product is made of.

The effects that it can have on our skin and our health as a whole can be extremely damaging.

Here are few of the worst toxic ingredients, as listed by Pragati Anand co-Founder of BioBloom.com, one should avoid in their beauty products.

Parabens: Preservative with anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. It is also linked to breast cancer, hormone disruption, allergic reactions, and infertility.

Petrochemicals: Petrochemicals are a carcinogen produced as a byproduct of the distillation of gasoline from crude oil and are toxic to the nervous system. Petrochemicals suffocate and age the skin and disrupt the skin's ability to eliminate toxins.

Artificial/Synthetic Colours: Artificial colours are carcinogenic.

Artificial/Synthetic Fragrance: Artificial fragrances are also considered to be among the top five known allergens and are known to both cause and trigger asthma attacks. And they are linked to immune system damage, sensitization, brain damage, hormone disruption, and cancer.

Triclosan: Triclosan is a synthetic antibacterial ingredient registered as a pesticide. It causes cancer in humans. It's often used in hand sanitizers.

Switching from chemically laden products to natural skin/personal care products is the first and the most important step you can take to improve your skin and actually nourish it with natural and real ingredients. You can notice a difference in less than a month!

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

31.10.2017

Thought creates character

Annie Besant

30 October, 2017

iPhone-based portable ultrasound machine can help detect cancer easily at home

A novel iPhone-based portable ultrasound machine that can help detect cancer easily at home has been developed by US researchers. The device called Butterfly IQ is a scanner of the size of an electric razor that can display black-and-white imagery of the body, when paired with an iPhone. Developed by Connecticut-based start-up Butterfly Network, the pocket sized device works by shooting sound into the body and capturing the echoes. Usually, the sound waves are generated by a vibrating crystal. But Butterfly’s machine instead uses 9,000 tiny drums etched onto a semiconductor chip, reported the MIT Technology Review on Friday.

Earlier this year, John Martin, a US-based vascular surgeon and chief medical officer at Butterfly Network, discovered a cancerous mass in his own throat while testing the device. Martin felt an uncomfortable feeling of thickness on his throat, thus he oozed out some gel and ran the probe along his neck. On his smartphone, to which the device is connected, black-and gray images quickly appeared. These are some  cancer tests you should know about.

He found a 3 cm mass that was diagnosed as squamous-cell cancer — a form of skin cancer that develops in the cells of the outer layer of the skin.

Instead of vibrating crystals, Butterfly IQ uses “capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers”, or CMUTs, tiny ultrasonic emitters layered on a semiconductor chip a little larger than a postage stamp.

“The device gives you the ability to do everything at the bedside: you can pull it out of your pocket and scan the whole body,” Martin said.

The company now plans to combine the instrument with artificial-intelligence software that could help a novice position the probe, collect the right images, and interpret them.

By 2018, its software will let users automatically calculate how much blood a heart is pumping, or detect problems like aortic aneurisms, the report said.

Source: www.healthsite.india.com

30.10.2017

Well done is better than well said

Benjamin Franklin

28 October, 2017

Pollution deaths cause for alarm

Pollution is far deadlier than widely believed hitherto. A report published in The Lancet journal says that in 2015, pollution claimed the lives of nine million people worldwide. This is 16% of all deaths that year. The general perception is that pollution causes itchy eyes, difficulty in breathing or a throbbing headache. It does. But worryingly, pollution culminates in heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and causes premature deaths, the study points out. The magnitude of its deadly impact can be gauged from the fact that pollution-related deaths outstrip by a large margin the number of deaths due to other reasons. Pollution kills three times more people than does AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria put together, and 15 times more than war and violence-related fatalities. And India has reason to be worried, even alarmed. Pollution led to 2.5 million premature deaths in India in 2015, the highest in the world. Roughly 25% of all deaths that year in India were linked to pollution. China stood second with 1.8 million pollution-related deaths in 2015.

The impact of pollution and its damaging effects on health, environment and societies have been largely ignored or downplayed by governments for decades. Even the international development agenda failed to prioritise it. But pollution is costly not only in terms of human lives but also economic losses. Pollution-related diseases cause productivity losses that reduce GDP growth in low-income to middle-income countries by up to 2% per year. On top of that, pollution-related health care costs account for 7% of all health spending in middle-income countries. It is time the world woke up to the fact that pollution is not just an environmental issue but a matter that is central to human survival.

Pollution can be eliminated and pollution prevention is “highly cost-effective”, the report points out. It underscores the need for pollution prevention to be accorded top priority nationally and internationally and integrated into the planning process at all levels. Pollution control needs to be factored into the development agenda. The report calls for an increase in budget allocations for pollution prevention. Advanced economies must step up financial and technological support to poor and developing countries as the latter bear the brunt (92%) of all pollution-related deaths. Such support will benefit both sides; after all, pollution is not a local issue, its impact is felt globally. India needs to take pollution more seriously. While improving public transport systems would reduce air pollution, scientific sewage treatment and halting the flow of chemicals or dumping construction debris in water bodies will help reduce water pollution.

Source: www.deccanherald.com

28.10.2017

Be a voice, not an echo

Albert Einstein

27 October, 2017

Night phone use may harm mental health in teens: study

Teenagers who use their smartphones late at night may have low sleep quality, leading to poor mental health, reduced coping and self-esteem, a new study warns.

Researchers at Griffith University and Murdoch University tracked changes in late-night mobile phone use, sleep and mental health indicators over three years in a large sample of Australian teens.

They found that adolescents' late-night mobile phone use was directly linked to poor sleep quality, which subsequently led to poorer mental health outcomes, reduced coping, and lowered self-esteem.

"We have demonstrated how poor sleep is the key link connecting an increase in night-time mobile use with subsequent increases in psychosocial issues," lead researcher Lynette Vernon said. "We found that late night phone use directly contributed to poor sleep habits, which over time led to declines in overall wellbeing and mental health," said Vernon.

The study surveyed 1,100 students from 29 schools annually over four years in total, starting in year 8 and following them until year 11. Students were asked what time of the night they received or sent text messages and phone calls, and their perceptions of their sleep quality. The researchers also investigated adolescents' symptoms of depressed mood, involvement in delinquency or aggression, and their coping and self esteem over time.

Results showed that in year 8, more than 85 per cent of students owned a mobile phone and around one-third of these students reported they never texted or received phone calls after lights out. However, three years later 93 per cent of the students owned mobiles and only 22 per cent of these year 11 students reported no late night mobile use.

"We found that those teenagers who start out as relatively 'healthy' in terms of their late-night mobile use early in high school, tend to show steeper escalations in their late-night mobile use over the next several years," said study co-author Kathryn Modecki. Students with high initial levels of night-time mobile phone use also tended to have higher initial levels of poor sleep behaviour. As their levels of mobile phone use grew over time, so did their poor sleep behaviour.

"What is especially compelling is that these increases in poor sleep, in turn, led to rises in depressed mood and externalising behaviours, and declines in self-esteem and coping one year later," said Modecki.

The study was published in the journal Child Development.

Source: www.deccanherald.com

27.10.2017

There is no substitute for hard work

Thomas Edison

26 October, 2017

Women with rheumatoid arthritis have 50% more chances of developing lung diseases

Beware, if there is inflammation in joints! As a study recently warns that people, especially women, with rheumatoid arthritis are 50 percent more chance to develop a lung disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term illness in which the immune system causes the body to attack itself, causing painful, swollen and stiff joints. It is this inflammation which is thought to lead to COPD – the umbrella term for diseases from emphysema to acute bronchitis which can cause wheezing and breathlessness so bad that it can hamper daily activities. According to researchers, rheumatoid arthritis sufferers have a 47 percent greater risk of the lung condition, while women with the condition see their danger rise by 61 percent.

Lead author Dr Diane Lacaille from the University of British Columbia said, “These findings are novel because it has only recently been recognised that inflammation plays a role in the development of COPD, and clinicians treating people with rheumatoid arthritis are not aware that their patients are at increased risk of developing COPD.” Almost 25,000 people with arthritis were monitored for over a decade.

The research showed that rheumatoid arthritis not only affects joints but also lung disease. The authors emphasised the importance of getting the inflammation under control as soon as possible. Early symptoms include frequent chest infections and chesty coughs, as well as waking up in the night feeling breathless. The researchers followed 24,625 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 25,396 people who were free of the condition to record how many were hospitalised with COPD. To prevent this problem say anti-inflammatory drugs should be given to people in arthritis as quickly as possible. Dr Lacaille added that the results emphasise the need to control inflammation, and in fact to aim for complete eradication of inflammation through effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The research appears in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. 

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

26.10.2017

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom

Aristotle          

25 October, 2017

Despite deaths due to hunger, half of India's fruits and vegetables go to waste: Study

As India struggles to overcome the evils of hunger that grips parts of the nation, a study has revealed that approximately half of milk, fruits and vegetables produced in the country gets wasted. India is the largest producer of milk and second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Despite that, about 40-50% of the output – valued at $440 billion – ends up being wasted.

"India has about 6,300 cold storage facilities with a capacity of 30.11 million tons, which are only able to store about 11 percent of the country's total perishable produce," said D.S. Rawat, the Assocham Secretary General.

The study highlighted that about 60% of this amount was spread across Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab. The research further said: "The situation is severe in southern part of India due to unavailability of cold storage units, moreover as the climate is far more hot and humid."

The study estimated that the cold chain market in India valued at $167.24 billion in 2016 was projected to reach $234.49 billion by 2020. The cold chain market had grown steadily in the last few years and this trend was projected to continue until 2020.

"Shortage of adequate infrastructure, lack of trained personnel, outdated technology and inconsistent power supply are other major obstacles in the growth of cold chain infrastructure in India," said Rawat. He said that setting up cold-chain involves higher infrastructure cost.

"Given the expected growth in grocery retail to $847.9 billion by 2020 from $500 billion in 2012, there are some changes expected by the industry as a whole to ensure three significant areas of handling food collection, storage and transportation to be more cost-effective for retailer."

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

25.10.2017

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment

Jim Rohn      

24 October, 2017

'70% of Indian cancers preventable'

Cancer continues to be dreaded because few realise that timely diagnosis and treatment can cure most types of tumours.Fewer still know that cancer can be prevented by healthy lifestyle. It is to make people aware of these that All India Institute of Medical Sciences started a cancer prevention clinic last week.At the clinic, families of patients are counselled about the risk of familial cancers and screening tests available to diagnose them at an early stage to reduce mortality rates.

At present, doctors say survival rate for most cancers stagnates at 20% because a majority of the patients come when the disease is already in the advanced, or III and IV, stages. "If cancer is detected early , 80% patients can be cured of the disease," asserted Dr GK Rath, chief of AIIMS' cancer centre, the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital.

The AIIMS' cancer facility began functioning in 198384 with 35 beds on two floors.At present, there are 182 beds, six of them in ICU. Doctors say the patient burden has increased multifold during this period, one reason being the cost of treatment. "Poor people cannot afford private treatment for a disease like cancer because it costs Rs 5 lakh-40 lakh."

A recent event organised by Indian Cancer Society (ICS) also highlighted how creating awareness about preventive measures could help fight the disease. "Once you get cancer, it is difficult to get cured. It's better to understand the disease and keep it at bay ," said Jyotsna Govil, vice-chairperson, ICS. According to a review on preventable cancers in India published by oncologists from AIIMS in an international journal, 70% of Indian cancers (40% tobacco-related, 20% infection-related and 10% others) are caused by potentially modifiable and preventable risk factors.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

24.10.2017

Nothing will work unless you do

 Maya Angelou

23 October, 2017

India number 1 in pollution-related deaths in the world says The Lancet. But government disagrees

Already the ‘Diabetes capital of the world’, India is now worthy of another sobriquet as the ‘Pollution death capital.’ According to a report published in The Lancet, India has had the most number of pollution-related deaths in the world in 2015. The country leaves behind even the sub-Saharan countries in this respect. There couldn’t have been a more inopportune moment to break this news to Indians, considering it is Diwali season and there is already a lot of buzz related to crackers and air pollution.

As per the findings of the report, 2.51 million premature deaths were recorded in the country due to pollution alone. Complications arising from contaminated air and water have been attributed as the cause of these deaths. It is stunning to note that a whopping 28 percent of the 9 million pollution-related deaths reported worldwide belongs to India alone. India also topped the list of most number of deaths due to air and water pollution.

Pollution has been a pressing issue for our planet due to the harmful effects it has on the health and environment. The Lancet Commission on pollution and health focuses on how it has been neglected by the Governments and international development agenda despite the urgency. An estimated 9 million deaths worldwide have been caused due to pollution which is three times more than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. The commission states that the most severely affected countries, the pollution-related diseases are responsible for more than one death in four. It alleges that the effects of pollution on human mortality and their contribution to the Global Burden of Disease have been severely underreported. The commission also uncovered the economic costs of pollution to low-income and middle-income countries.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

23.10.2017

Positive mind, positive vibes, positive life

16 October, 2017

Deaths due to heart disease witness rise by 59% in 20 years: Report

Heart or cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death across India and the number of cases are unfortunately rising.

While treatment modalities are evolving rapidly to improve clinical outcomes and help patients live an active and productive life post-treatment, heart diseases are responsible for 25 percent deaths in India and has also become the leading cause of premature mortality in terms of years of life lost.

A disturbing report has said that in the last 20 years, early deaths due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have increased by a staggering 59%.

By getting affected with heart conditions in working age, people not only lose out their productive years but also add to the overall economic burden of the disease.

According to a paper, published in the Journal of Harvard School of Public health, cardiovascular disease deaths alone give India the "highest loss in potentially productive years of life" of all countries in the world.

"Compounded with a steep rise in the number of young patients, in Rajasthan itself, CVD contributes to approximately 11 percent of the disease burden. I get around 15 percent heart patients below 45 years of age in a month. The major reasons contributing to the early onset of the disease are work-related stress, unhealthy lifestyle, family history, diabetes, and habits like smoking, drinking and lack of sleep.

Along with these risk factors, the lack of preventive measures at the appropriate time sometimes leads to an elevated risk of having a cardiac disease.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

16.10.2017

Your best teacher is your last mistake

14 October, 2017

'Obesity-linked illnesses to cost India $13bn|yr by 2025'

Obesity-related diseases such as heart ailments, diabetes, and cancer will cost India a staggering $13 billion annually by 2025, in the wake of continued increase in childhood obesity, coupled with its financial impact at all ages, according to World Obesity Federation. The global annual medical cost of treating serious consequences of obesity is expected to reach $1.2 trillion per year by 2025.Despite the increase in child and adolescent obesity , globally more children remain moderately or severely underweight than obese, with 75 million girls moderately or severely underweight in 2016, and 117 million boys, a study published in The Lancet said. Almost two thirds of the world's children and adolescents who are moderately or severely underweight lived in south Asia.

Interestingly, India too, along with a few other countries, faces a twin challenge of under-nutrition and under-weight , along with an alarming rise in obesity . Like, excessive weight gain in childhood and adolescence is associated with a higher risk and earlier onset of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, at the other ex treme, being underweight has its own share of health problems.

On World Obesity Day on October 11, World Obesity Federation along with Lancet and the World Health Organization, have urged governments, health service providers, insurers and philanthropic organisations to prioritise investment in tackling the problem. This includes investing in treatments, early intervention to improve the success, and prevention. Investment can help to achieve the 2025 targets set by WHO to halt the rise in obesity, and to achieve a 25% relative reduction in mortality from non-communicable diseases.

"We expect to see that child obesity is still rising in low and middle-income countries, with the absolute numbers of overweight children expected to exceed the numbers of undernourished children within the next few years", said Dr Tim Lobstein at the World Obesity Federation.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

14.10.2017

Future belongs to those who dream

13 October, 2017

Less than 20% urban kids in India eat fruits once a day: Survey

Only 18 percent of urban children in grade six to 10 in India eat fruits every day, show results of a survey, revealing poor eating habits of a vast majority of kids in the country. At 14 percent, the proportion of children eating protein once a day is even lower showed the survey by Podar Education Group which runs over 100 schools spread across the country.

The survey involved responses from 1,350 parents of children studying in grade six to 10 in India's metro cities. The results showed that only 35 percent of the children consume vegetables as part of every meal.

"The World Health Organisation (WHO) does say that childhood obesity is an 'exploding nightmare' in the developing world," said Raghav Podar, Trustee, Podar Education Group, in a statement.

"Healthy childhoods are critical to the country, and require strong cohesive work between the parents and schools," Podar said. The survey evaluating the eating habits across food categories in young school children in India also found that 50 percent of them consume junk food, sweets or other unhealthy food almost on daily basis.

"This survey clearly indicates that teaching a child about good nutrition is not just about giving them a list of healthy foods that he or she can eat, but more about 'how much' and 'when' to eat," child nutritionist Sripriya Venkiteswaran said.

The silver lining is that almost 76 percent of the parents said that their kids play some outdoor sport. About 24 percent said their children do not play outdoors at all.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/health

13.10.2017

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live

Elbert Hubbard          

12 October, 2017

97 million of the world’s underweight children and adolescents lived in India in 2016

Nearly 97 million of the world’s underweight children and adolescents lived in India in 2016, a new study by science journal Lancet said. The findings showed that India had the highest population of “moderate-to-severely” underweight children and young adults aged between 5-to-19 years in the past four decades.  Although the number remained high, there was a decline in the number of underweight children from 24.4 per cent of girls and 39.3 per cent of boys in 1975 to 22.7 per cent and 30.7 per cent in 2016 respectively. In contrast, an estimated 192 million — 75 million girls and 117 million boys — were moderately or severely underweight worldwide in 2016. Being underweight has been associated with higher risk of infectious diseases.

For girls of childbearing age, being underweight was associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal mortality, delivery complications, preterm births and intrauterine growth retardation, said Majid Ezzati, Professor at the Imperial College London. Unlike the underweight trend, the number of obese 5-to-19-years-olds rose more than 10-fold globally, from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016.  Obesity rates increased from less than 5 million girls and 6 million boys in 1975 to nearly 50 million girls and 74 million boys in 2016. 

“These worrying trends reflect the impact of food marketing and policies across the globe, with healthy nutritious foods too expensive for poor families and communities.  “The trend predicts a generation of children and adolescents growing up obese and also malnourished,” Ezzati said.

For the study, the team analysed weight and height measurements from nearly 130 million people aged over 5 (31.5 million people aged five to 19, and 97.4 million aged 20 and older), from 1975 to 2016. The number of obese adults increased from 100 million in 1975 (69 million women, 31 million men) to 671 million in 2016 (390 million women, 281 million men), the researchers said.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

12.10.2017

The right thing, with the wrong motive, is the wrong thing

11 October, 2017

Costly medicines may worsen perceived side effects: study

Expensive medicines may make you feel worse, according to a study which found that people are more likely to experience stronger side effects when a treatment seems to be costly.

While the placebo effect means that some people feel better when they have unknowingly been given a sham or control treatment, the nocebo works the opposite way. Researchers at University Medical Center Hamburg- Eppendorf in Germany studied if price might also affect the strength of the nocebo effect.

The team created two packages for fake creams and told volunteers that they are used to treat itchy skin. One package looked like an expensive pharmaceutical brand name, while the other looked like a cheaper, generic medication.

The participants were shown one of the two creams and told that it was believed to increase a person's sensitivity to pain as a side effect, 'New Scientist' reported. Researchers then applied creams to participants' arms, and exposed their limbs to increasing levels of heat. Each person was asked to rank the discomfort they felt. The study, published in the journal Science, noted that participants given the more expensive-looking cream reported more pain than those given the cheaper-looking cream.

Relative to a control cream that was described as having no active ingredients, the generic-looking cream raised pain on average by around three per cent, while the expensive- looking cream increased pain by nearly 30 per cent, researchers said. The finding confirms that the price of a treatment effects not only placebo strength, but nocebo power too, they said.

Source: www.deccanherald.com

11.10.2017

Success is more attitude than aptitude

Peter Guber      

10 October, 2017

'70% of Indian cancers preventable'

Cancer continues to be dreaded because few realise that timely diagnosis and treatment can cure most types of tumours.Fewer still know that cancer can be prevented by healthy lifestyle. It is to make people aware of these that All India Institute of Medical Sciences started a cancer prevention clinic last week.At the clinic, families of patients are counselled about the risk of familial cancers and screening tests available to diagnose them at an early stage to reduce mortality rates. They are also educated about the identified risk factors such as smoking, alcoholism or obesity for different cancers.

At present, doctors say survival rate for most cancers stagnates at 20% because a majority of the patients come when the disease is already in the advanced, or III and IV, stages. "If cancer is detected early , 80% patients can be cured of the disease," asserted Dr GK Rath, chief of AIIMS' cancer centre, the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital.

Bhawna Kapoor (name changed), a resident of Vasant Kunj, whose brother in-law died of esophageal cancer and another relative is suspected to be suffering from breast cancer, went to the centre to enquire whether she was at risk too. The doctors counselled her and advised her to undergo genetic tests. "If she proves positive for BRCA1and BRCA2 gene mutation, then all family members may be advised to undergo age-specific cancer screening," said Dr Abhishek Shankar, assistant professor of preventive oncology, AIIMS.

Only a week old, the cancer prevention clinic has already attracted over a dozen people. "We plan to offer preventive vaccination for cervical cancer, genetic tests for breast cancer and facilities to make early diagnoses. Also, we will provide counselling to create awareness," Dr Shankar said. The AIIMS' cancer facility began functioning in 198384 with 35 beds on two floors.At present, there are 182 beds, six of them in ICU. Doctors say the patient burden has increased multifold during this period, one reason being the cost of treatment. "Poor people cannot afford private treatment for a disease like cancer because it costs Rs 5 lakh-40 lakh."

Source: www.timesofindia.com

10.10.2017

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it

Albert Einstein       

9 October, 2017

Is watching sports harmful for health? Study says yes

A study says that watching a hockey game live or on television may lead to a rise in heart rate, that can have a substantial effect on the cardiovascular system. The findings showed that there was a 75 per cent increase in heart rate in TV viewers and 110 per cent rise in heart rate from watching a game live. These are equivalent to the heart rate response that occurs with moderate and vigorous physical stress, respectively.

Overall, the heart rate increased by a median of 92 per cent (almost doubled) across all spectators. "Watching an exciting hockey game might trigger a cardiovascular event in an individual at risk," said David D. Waters, from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, in the US.

"Viewing a hockey game can be the source of an intense emotional stress, as manifested by marked increases in heart rate," added Paul Khairy, Professor at the University of Montreal in Canada.

Further, the researchers found that pounding peak heart rates occurred most frequently during any scoring opportunity -- for or against -- and during overtime and not necessarily at the end of the game.

Previous studies have shown that cardiovascular events triggered by watching sporting events are more common in people with existing coronary artery disease, attributed to a disproportionate increase in markers of vasoconstriction and acute inflammation in those individuals.

The results should encourage doctors to speak to their patients about watching sports, the researchers noted.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com

09.10.2017

Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge

Abraham Joshua Heschel         

7 October, 2017

Abortions may be legal in India, but 60% are unsafe

Despite abortions being legal for the last 46 years, almost 60% of procedures in India are unsafe - a ratio much closer to that in countries where abortion is illegal. This discrepancy is primarily because of lack of access to hospital facilities, awareness and stigma around abortion, shows a latest study published in the international medical journal 'Lancet'.

The study, conducted by lable on demand.

However, in India, the number of unsafe abortions continues to be drastically high, reflecting a huge disparity when compared with other countries where abortion is legal.

Experts say the govern WHO along with Guttmacher Institute, shows that 62 countries with highly restrictive abortion laws have 75% of all unsafe abortions compared to 13% in the 57 countries where legal abortion is avai ment's proposal to expand the provider base by including trained healthcare workers, mid midwives and Ayush doctors will help reduce unsafe abortions in India. To reverse this, India must take major policy and programmatic action. The government needs to urgently take forward the proposed amendments to the MTP Act. Without the expansion of provider base proposed in the amendments, safe abortion will never be a reality for women in rural remote areas of the country, Ipas Development Foundation executive director Vinoj Manning said.

Findings of the study show a total of 55.7 million abortions occurred worldwide each year between 2010 and 2014. Of this, 30.6 million were estimated safe whereas 17.1 million were less safe and eight million were least safe.Thus, 25.1 million abortions each year between 2010 and 2014 were unsafe, with 24.3 million (97%) of these in developing countries.

According to Sushila Singh of Guttmacher Institute, who was also one of the researchers of the study, the average unsafe abortions in the south central Asia region, which includes countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India, was as high as 58%.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

07.10.2017

Remember that failure is an event, not a person

Zig Ziglar