Counting the invisible: Why gendered data must lead the climate and health agenda at COP30 - LSE Global Health

This piece argues that although the Lancet Countdown on Climate Change and Health exposes the vast human and economic costs of climate inaction, gendered impacts remain largely invisible due to the absence of sex-disaggregated data. LSE MSc student Rupsa Chakraborty and Assistant Professor Miqdad Asaria highlight that women, especially those from marginalised communities in low- and middle-income countries, are most affected yet underrepresented in policymaking. As COP30 unfolds in Belém, Brazil...

State seizes gutka worth ₹63 cr, but only 8 FIRs filed in Mumbai

Despite being Maharashtra’s most populous city with over 12.7 million residents, Mumbai recorded only eight First Information Reports (FIRs) relating to banned tobacco-based substances between April 2024 and March 2025, which is very telling about their accessibility. This number falls short compared to smaller divisions such as Nagpur (103), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (88), Amravati (64), Nashik (50), Pune (41) and Thane (24). Public health experts warn that this ban enforcement gap is directly...

After plane crash, Ahmedabad residents lined up to donate blood breaking records

Across Ahmedabad, hundreds echoed the same resolve. As news of the crash spread and fears of mass casualties intensified, people of Gujarat responded with quiet urgency. From teenagers to the elderly, office workers to homemakers, people rushed to blood banks across the city. In just five hours, the Red Cross centre at Navrangpura collected 550 units of blood, smashing all previous records for single-day, single-centre donations in the city. “It was one of the most heartwarming moments of my c...

42-year-old man from Beed undergoes rare small intestine transplant; organ airlifted from Delhi

The patient, Siddheshwar Dake, a resident of rural Beed in the drought-prone Marathwada region, had been suffering from worsening abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues for more than two years. Despite consulting multiple hospitals, he received inconclusive diagnoses—ranging from ulcers to suspected malignancy. His condition continued to deteriorate until he was referred to the specialised liver, intestine, and pancreas outpatient department at Nanavati Max Hospital earlier in January. A det...

As blood banks in city run dry, patients left to fend for themselves

According to estimates, Mumbai needs an estimated 1,000-1,400 units of blood daily. But as of May 30, only 5,325 blood units and 65 single donor platelet (SDP) units were available across the city, which the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) warned would last for only five-six days. The acute shortage began in the last week of May, largely due to a seasonal drop in voluntary donations during the summer holidays when many donors were away on vacation and regular blood donation drives in col...

From cancer wards to classrooms: Tata Memorial Centre helps 603 survivors with ₹2.83 crore in educational aid

Mumbai: At just 18, Payal Kumari from Bihar is already defying the odds. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer as a teenager, her life was put on hold as she underwent rounds of intensive treatment at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai. Today, she’s not just a survivor. She is pursuing a BTech in computer science at the United Institute of Technology in Coimbatore, supported for three consecutive academic years by TMC’s ImPaCCT Foundation. Her dream: to become a software engineer and help others f...

15-yr-old 1st in city to get latest heart valve

The boy had undergone corrective heart surgery as a newborn to relieve an obstruction in the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), the region of the heart where blood exits the right ventricle and flows into the pulmonary arteries. While the defect was addressed, doctors had to leave the pulmonary valve non-functional, resulting in chronic pulmonary regurgitation. Over time, this caused the right ventricle to enlarge and pump inefficiently. Recently, the boy began experiencing fatigue and redu...

72-year-old’s forgotten bile duct stent migrates, turns into stone inside liver after 10 years

A biliary stent is a small tube inserted into the bile duct to keep it open and ensure proper drainage of bile from the liver to the intestine, typically used to relieve blockages caused by stones, tumours or inflammation. Nalini Devidas Sawaskar, a resident of Dombivli, began experiencing persistent abdominal pain and vomiting late last year. Initially believed to be gastrointestinal distress, imaging at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Navi Mumbai revealed a startling discovery: two plas...

Nearly half of women who developed diabetes during pregnancy have abnormal blood sugar levels years later: KEM study

Of the 531 mothers tracked, 48.6% developed diabetes or pre-diabetes over time, challenging the long-held assumption that gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) resolves after delivery. Doctors warned that this under-recognised risk demands urgent attention, particularly in India, where diabetes is on the rise and postpartum care remains inconsistent and inadequate. GDM is a form of high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy due to hormonal interference with insulin. Its incidence is steadily...

Fear, not funds, keeps doctors away from Sewri TB Hospital’s IRCU

More than a year after it was built, the Intensivist Respiratory Care Unit (IRCU) at Mumbai’s Sewri TB Hospital lies largely idle—not for lack of funds or infrastructure, but due to a more insidious obstacle: fear. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has offered salaries ranging from ₹1.25 lakh to ₹2 lakh per month—well above average for public-sector intensivists—to staff the IRCU. Yet, despite three rounds of recruitment since 2024, the city’s largest TB hospital has failed to fill th...

Mumbai man’s eight-year battle with insurance firm gets him ₹16.5-lakh claim

Experts say the man’s case underscores the emotional and legal toll many policyholders face and highlights growing calls for reform in how insurers assess disability and settle claims. After a road accident in Hyderabad in 2017, Chetan Tolia, a jewellery businessman from Ghatkopar, underwent multiple surgeries, including a failed corneal graft and treatment for retinal detachment. The vision in his left eye was declared permanently and irreversibly lost. Under his personal accident policy with T...

4.8% of Indian women undergo hysterectomy, many use government insurance schemes: Study

A study has revealed that 4.8 per cent of Indian women in the reproductive age group have undergone a hysterectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the uterus, with agricultural workers showing the highest prevalence at 6.8 per cent. Alarmingly, many women utilise government health insurance schemes for unnecessary procedures.The findings highlight clinical disparities driven by occupational hazards and socioeconomic factors, exposing young women to long-term complications such as hormonal imbala...

CAG audit unveils systemic failures: Unspent budget, vacant posts, incomplete projects plague Maharashtra’s healthcare

A recent audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on the public health infrastructure and management of health services in Maharashtra has revealed severe shortcomings in the state’s public healthcare system, exposing systemic neglect, chronic resource shortages and financial inefficiencies. Covering the years from 2016 to 2022, the report presents a grim picture of the health sector struggling to meet demands of its population, particularly in rural areas.The report was table...

How Tata Memorial’s ImPaCCT foundation reduced treatment abandonment to 2% from 25%

Tata Memorial Hospital’s ImPaCCT Foundation, established in 2010, has reduced treatment abandonment rates in paediatric cancer care,
from 25 per cent in 2008 to just 2 per cent in 2023. By integrating advanced medical treatments with socio-economic interventions such as housing, education, nutrition, and counselling, the foundation has tackled financial constraints, gender bias, and cultural misconceptions, significantly improving outcomes for children with cancer.This approach, supported by rea...