Soumya Guha Thakurta reports on the protest meet against ill-treatment of mentally ill patients at the West Bengal state government-run Pavlov Institute and Mental Hospital, Kolkata. The protest meet was organised by ANJALI and SRUTI DISABILITY on15th March, 2008, in front of the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, at 5 pm.

An exhibition by Dr. Syed Ali Wasif.

Cases of TB are being reported among weaver communities - with government health care centers non-operational, and their livelihoods in tatters, they are helpless.

More skeletons are falling from the cupboard of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur . The prestigious and world renowned Institute seems to have a practice of suppressing information about untimely deaths of daily wage workers on the campus.

A child of a laborer working at a construction site on campus was bitten by a snake and died because the campus hospital refused to attend. Like any other work place, should the IIT administration not be responsible for safety at the worksite – surely, the laborer is not responsible for unsafe conditions around?

On the eve on the election results in UP, Indian Express journalist Tarannum Manjul spoke with Arundhati Dhuru (Supreme Court Appointed Adviser on Right to Food) on hunger in the state.

A study of water samples in the vicinity of the Coke plant in Mehndiganj conducted by People’s Science Institute, Dehradoon, and Hazard Center, Delhi, finds Coke responsible dangerous levels of toxic metals of Cadmium and Chromium in the groundwater.

In an earlier article we had described the deceitful ways of the government in hoodwinking people in Koodankulam about the proposed Nuclear plant. As more deceit unfolds, the people of the area have started a rights based people's campaign.

In the first week of October 2006, the enquiry committee constituted by Commissioners of Supreme Court to investigate the Hunger and Malnutrition deaths, while their visit to the villages of Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh found four children in Ranipur village – Bansi, Sonu, Sukhlal and Kiran – as severely malnourished.

Separate reports in Hindustan Times by PTI and by IANS suggest that effluents from the Coke plant have led to the death of between 400-500 cattle in Tirunelveli.

Sagar Shabnam writes for the Women's Features Service finds that uterus cancer has affected many in Bangladesh and that grassroots level awareness may be the most effective way of saving lives.

An integral part of PWN+ activities is to sensitise communities and mainstream healthcare providers so that women living with HIV/AIDS are not denied treatment or subjected to indignity.

After a trip to Baba Bhit Island, Dr Syed Wasif Ali writes about the impact of rampant urbanization and its impact on the health of urban dwellers in Karachi, but perhaps more generally about many parts of the world.

Pepsi and Coke have come under intense pressure in India in the last week following another CSE investigation showing higher levels of pesticides in 11 brands of Coke and Pepsi collected from bottling plants in 25 states.

Bhaskar Save - from Kalpavruksh - writes to M. S. Swaminathan, the 'father' of the Green Revolution in India and the current chairman of the National Commission ON Farmers regarding the severe implications of the ongoing policies on agriculture.

A letter from Devinder Sharma, Food and Trade Policy Analyst, to the Prime Minister of India demanding a thorough review of agro policies, especially vis-a-vis GM crops, in the context of farmers' suicides in India.

Numerous civic society groups are concerned about the impact of implementation strategy of Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights (TRIPS) in India. A petition is being presented to the PM of India to analyze these concerns.

Medha Patkar, today, addressed the press for a conference on the cases of malnutrition found among the displaced people of Mandala, Mankhurd.

At present she is all set to screen her movie at the 13^th World Conference on Tobacco Control at DC in July, as a guest at The American University. Part of this note was published in the Hindustan Times.

Ravishankar Arunachalam, a former faculty at IIT Madras and social activist follows up his first article (see below) with more evidence of its success.

Despite with per capita food production 5 times and milk production 4 times more of national average, Punjab’s Public Health System is in disarray. Public Health Centers do not carry even Paracetamol – a common drug for fever. Ravinder Singh prefaces an article from Frontline.

In Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh, 1600 sheep died after grazing for 7 days in a BT cotton field after the crop was harvested. The symptoms did not correlate to any of the diseases occurred during the season.

A new survey in India has found genetically engineered cotton (Bt Cotton) is causing negative health effects among farm workers. The survey, covering six villages, reported. All the evidence gathered during the investigation shows that Bt has been causing skin, upper respiratory tract and eye allergies among persons exposed to cotton.

With increasing obesity among children in the US, the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation brokered a deal to end sales and distribution of almost all �Soft Drinks� in elementary and middle schools. When will this happen in India?

With bugs, a condom and iron being found in beverages sold by Pepsi and Coke, not just in India but also in Japan, one has to ask whether these companies focused on cost cutting have no eye for their processes?

From April 1, 2006, the Government of India, through the Directorate of Health Services has announced the Tobacco Control ACT coming into effect.

Food irradiation is another tool to increase corporate control and monopoly over the world’s food supply, thus exacerbating the already unsustainable global food and agriculture trading system that prioritizes profits over people. Global Agriculture groups are calling for a global ban on food irradiation.

Dr. S.Ali Wasif talks about the state of mentally ill in prisons in Pakistan.

Dr Shershah Syed, an Associate Professor of ob-gyn and Secretary General of the Pakistan Medical Association, in a free wheeling conversation on Women’s Rights in Pakistan.

India has reinstated a ban on non-iodized salt in the country as of this past May of 2005. There seems to be enough evidence presented by both sides of this debate suggesting that the ban – and advocacy against it – may be politically driven and not just based on data.

IOC recently communicated to Dow that the technology purchase deal has been cancelled after IOC found that critical submissions made by Dow as part of contract negotiations were false. In their response to IOC, Dow officials have alleged that the cancellation of the deal has caused a loss of 1.5 million US dollars. The Indian government is yet to communicate its final decision on this matter.

In the 3rd part of this series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif points out that mental health is not just a biochemical problem, due to the medical model of diagnosis and pharmacological means of treatment, it has social maladies and therefore, mental health is ignored and overlooked.

Health is non existent in this region for a common man, when we talk about South Asia, only affluent people can afford it in the private sector, as it has never been a priority of the ruling juntas. In the second of a 3 part series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif speaks about the role of Pakistan Association for Mental Health.

Health is non existent in this region for a common man, when we talk about South Asia, only affluent people can afford it in the private sector, as it has never been a priority of the ruling juntas. In the first of a 3 part series, Dr. Syed Ali Wasif speaks about the state of Mental Health Services in Pakistan.

The number of cancer patients is rising alarmingly among the villagers in two districts in Punjab. Is the use of chemical fertilisers the cause? The Statesman carried an article based on an investigation by a Centre for Science and Environment team.

In the last decade, South Asia in general and India, specifically, has become the major dumping ground for hazardous wastes from a large number of countries in North America and Europe. The first in this series looks at the diversity of waste that flows into India.

150,000 Bhopalis are sick and suffering from Carbide’s chemicals. Yet many illnesses remain medical mysteries: doctors don’t know how to treat them.
Call the Indian Government TODAY. Demand a National Commission on Bhopal.

A Global Day of Action is being organized on Feb 26, 2005 to protest the Patents Amendment bill that is currently under consideration by Indian parliament. Please support and participate!

In this mutli-part series, Sanat Mohanty discusses why we have to look for alternatives and what kinds of alternatives we should look for. This sixth piece of the series presents the unclaimed externalities of development.

The civil unrest and ongoing war between LTTE and the Sri Lankan government has affected relief efforts in Sri Lanka. Reports from Sri Lanka are largely about damages in the South and South East. It is only after four days of the calamity that we have received our first reports from the East and North East. Images show stark emptiness, an absence of people.

December 3 is observed as Global Day of Action against Corporate Crime. This year let's take a look at what happened in Kodaikanal.

Etoxic, an environmental group based in India, lists drugs that have been banned in the EU and/or USA, but continue to be sold in India.

In response to increasing demonstrations against Coca Cola, and specifically in response to march planned from November 15-24, 2004, the company put out advertisements in newspapers raising various questions.

The second part of this two-part series on health care looks at various indices of health of the populations.

The first part of this two-part series on health care looks at the commitment that various governments have made to the health of their people through the analysis of financial commitment to health care as well as establishment of infrastructure.

Human Development Indices from 2004 report by UNDP point to very high gender inequalities in South Asia.

Leading up to December 3rd, 2004, 20 years after the infamous Union Carbide tragedy in Bhopal, we review the state of the victims, ask ourselves whether justice has been done and wonder whether the rest of us would rather forget about it. We begin a series of articles on the aftermath of Bhopal with a review of the tragedy.

Shristi in Bangalore is a part of India's response to the needs of special children.

Union Carbide built the pesticide factory in Bhopal, India in the 1970s

I am in this field by an fortunate accident. My undergraduate degree was in electrical engineering. But somehow, the idea of spending my life building faster and faster chips never fired up my imagination.

Colorectal Cancer Screening - Frequently Asked Questions