• All India Institute of Medical Sciences ,Rishikesh recently conducted a mock drill of the BHISHM Cube—Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog, Hita and Maitri—a mobile hospital unit under Project Aarogya Maitri by the Government of India.

• Designed for rapid disaster response, the modular unit can treat up to 200 casualties and integrates artificial intelligence, point-of-care testing (POCT) and data analytics for real-time monitoring and management.

• During the drill, the BHISHM Cube was successfully deployed within twelve minutes, demonstrating its preparedness to provide efficient medical care during emergencies.

• Rapid mobile hospitals could have a great impact in disaster relief across India and developing nations.

• The  Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities observed World Thalassemia Day across India on 8 May with the theme, “Together for Thalassemia: Uniting Communities, Prioritizing Patients.”

• Thalassemia, an inherited disorder causing chronic anaemia, was the focus of educational and support initiatives.

• The National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities, Kolkata, organized sessions on the disease’s causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

• Swami Vivekanand National Institute, Cuttack, conducted lectures on early detection and care.

• Composite Regional Centres nationwide hosted activities—Jaipur discussed government schemes; Davanagere offered genetic counselling; Nagpur held a webinar; and Rajnandgaon organized a blood donation camp with the Red Cross.

• At the Sixth Meeting of the Group of Friends of Traditional Medicine (GFTM) in Geneva, India strongly advocated for the global advancement of evidence-based traditional medicine.

• Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH emphasized its vital contribution to Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SDG 3: ‘Good Health and Well-being’, and SDG 17: ‘Partnerships for the Goals’.

• Key Takeaways

  • The GFTM, initiated by India, serves as a key platform for member states to integrate traditional medicine into national health systems.

  • India showcased its initiatives and commitment through national missions, research, insurance coverage, and the application of modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), genomics, and bioinformatics, in traditional practices.

  • A high-level GFTM event is scheduled for May 23, 2025, at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, during the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78), to further promote this integration and advocacy.

• Union Health Minister Mr. JP Nadda inaugurated the 2nd National Workshop on ‘Health Sector Disaster Preparedness and Response’ and ‘Fire Safety in Healthcare Facilities’.

• He emphasised the urgent need for improved capacity building and awareness across all levels of the healthcare delivery system.

• Key Takeaways:

  • All healthcare personnel, in both public and private sectors, require robust and comprehensive training for disaster response.

  • Mr. Nadda highlighted the necessity of regular fire safety audits to prevent incidents.

  • He warned that insensitivity towards preparedness can lead to carelessness and devastating "sparks of disaster.”

  • An iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training) e-learning course on ‘Fire Safety in Healthcare Facilities’ was launched on the iGOT Karmayogi platform (igotkarmayogi.gov.in), which is the dedicated portal for online training for government employees.

• The workshop aims to develop actionable strategies for more resilient healthcare services nationwide.

• There are three dimensions with two components each:

  • Mental wellbeing:

    • Life satisfaction

    • Adolescent suicide

  • Physical health:

    • Child mortality

    • Overweight

  • Skills:

    • Academic proficiency

    • Social skills

• Report:

  • Child mortality has decreased in most of the countries.

  • Social skills are stable relatively.

  • A mixed trend of adolescent suicide rate.

  • Remaining three indicators—life satisfaction, overweight and academic skills show a declining trend in most of the countries.

• The top three countries are Netherlands, Denmark and France. The bottom eight countries show declining trend in atleast two of the three dimensions. Japan is the only country where the life satisfaction of children has increased from 2018 to 2022. The rates of overweight and obesity improved only in Italy and Portugal.

• Way Forward: Prioritising policies and interventions which focus on the child’s overall development through:

  • Specialist services, parenting programmes, and social and emotional learning at schools to improve the mental well-being of children.

  • Promotion of healthier food ecosystems and physical activity and policies on environmental protection to bring improvement in overall physical health.

  • Special focus on learning and enabling environments for skill development.

  • Measures to mitigate future shocks.

  • Placing decisions of children’s wellbeing in their own hands to better understand them and to find solutions.

  • Holistic approach on all the dimensions of a child’s life.

• A cross-sectional survey of 9249 general physicians (GPs) from nine low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)was conducted by researchers from Global Medical Affairs, to study their antibiotic prescribing practices and attitudes towards antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

• Findings of the study: Of the participants, 62% agreed to the fact that AMR is a concerning issue in their country, and 63% said prescribing antibiotics in primary care leads to AMR.

• Challenges perceived :

  • Around 38% of the GPs found it challenging in prescribing antibiotics to children.

  • Ninety-five percent of the GPs said that choosing antibiotics for pregnant women and patients with comorbidities is challenging.

  • Difficulty in correlating the data on antibiotic susceptibility with antibiotic choices.

  • Little information is available on the availability of drugs.

  • Unavailability of appropriate antibiotics.

  • Lack of regular training.

• Factors leading to the usage of broad-spectrum antibiotics:

  • Practioners belief that they are more effective than narrow-spectrum antibiotics in treating infections.

  • Pressure from patients to prescribe antibiotics.

  • The tendency to self-medicate.

  • Non-compliance with the prescribed treatment.

• Ninety percent of GPs agreed that they need regular training on antibiotic prescription

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• The first successful gene-editing therapy promises an optimistic future for children diagnosed with genetic disorders. CRISPR, short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, is a gene-editing technology that helps scientists to modify DNA selectively.

• KJ Muldoon, the name of the first infant to receive such a therapy, was diagnosed with CPS-1 deficiency after experiencing lethargy and difficulty in breathing.

• Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase - 1 (CPS-1) deficiency is a urea cycle disorder that leads to high ammonia levels in the body due to a lack of the CPS-1 enzyme that converts ammonia to urea. Complications include multiple organ damage due to accumulation of ammonia, such as liver damage requiring a transplant, irreversible brain injury, and death, with mortality as high as 50%. The children usually do not survive long enough to receive the transplant.

• CRISPR-based scissors can precisely scan through the genetic code and pinpoint the exact error and correct it. Animal testing was conducted prior to the human experiment, for which researchers took FDA approval.

• Baby Muldoon received 3 doses of infusion in February, March, and April, which led to a decrease in doses of medicine and ammonia levels, helping baby Muldoon gain weight. The infant suffered two viral infections, vomiting and diarrhea post-infusion, but without causing a shoot-up in his ammonia levels. There were no serious side effects reported.

• Parents were relieved as medicine doses were halved with an increase in proteins in his diet, leading to weight gain. These therapies hold great promise for future generations, offering hope to parents of affected children through the potential of gene therapy, but more research is needed to know if they can be widely applied.

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• A recent study conducted by researchers in India and the USA, used geocoded data from the National Family Health Survey - 4 (NFHS-4) and the 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) to assess the mitigatory impacts, if any, of micronutrients and fruits and vegetable consumption on Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs) and anemia caused by PM2.5 pollution.

• Data collected from the two surveys using geocoded data about the status of ARIs and anemia in children along with the amount of micronutrients consumed by the children and fruits and vegetables eaten by them, was used to retrospectively analyse the protective effect of this diet.

• Individual level confounders like sex of the child, mother's education level etc. and household level confounders like socioeconomic status, type of cooking fuel, household size etc. were adjusted for.

• The data showed that for children between 6 - 59 months, 208,782 had valid ARI information while 197,289 had valid Hb estimation status. Out of these, the prevalence of ARIs and anemia was 2.8% and 57.6%, respectively.

• The results showed that consumption of selenium, vitamin D and vitamin C showed a significant reduction in the effect of PM2.5 on ARI prevalence whereas all six micronutrients (Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin B12) showed a protective effect for anemia caused by increased PM2.5 exposure.

• Meanwhile, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables also showed a potential protective effect as the primary source of these nutrients in the diet.

• Thus, the researchers proposed that the study shows the health benefits of a healthy diet and can influence policy makers to focus on promoting a healthy, balanced diet rich in diverse fruits and vegetables.

• The World Health Statistics 2025 report highlights the profound setbacks that COVID-19 inflicted on global health. Between 2019 and 2021, life expectancy plunged by 1.8 years, the steepest drop in decades, while healthy life expectancy fell by six weeks due to rising mental health disorders, reversing earlier progress against noncommunicable diseases. Progress toward Triple Billion targets remains mixed.

• By 2024, 1.4 billion more people achieved healthier lives through reduced tobacco use, cleaner air, and improved water/sanitation (WASH).

• 431 million people accessed universal health coverage without facing financial hardship, while 637 million achieved enhanced protection against health emergencies.

• Maternal and under-5 mortality reductions have stagnated, risking 700,000 additional maternal and 8 million child deaths by 2030. A projected shortfall of 11.1 million health workers, concentrated in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, undermines essential healthcare recovery.

• Noncommunicable diseases dominate premature deaths under age 70. While strides in HIV, TB, and neglected tropical diseases continue, resurgent malaria, declining childhood immunization, and antimicrobial resistance threaten gains. Funding gaps risk reversing progress.

• WHO urges immediate and ongoing funding, strengthened health information systems through its SCORE initiative, and international cooperation to revive progress, avert new emergencies, and meet the 2030 health targets.

• The WHO Results Report 2024, released prior to the 78th World Health Assembly (May 19–27, 2025), evaluates midterm progress under the 2024–2025 budget and Thirteenth General Programme of Work (2019–2025). Despite funding challenges, WHO advances its “Triple Billion” targets across 150+ countries.

• Universal Health Coverage: 431 million more people access affordable care, aided by stronger health workforces, broader HIV therapy, and contraceptive access. Immunization gaps and out-of-pocket costs remain hurdles.

• Health Emergency Protection: Enhanced readiness and monitoring systems, coupled with fairer distribution of health tools and updates to International Health Regulations, benefit 637 million more people. However, H5N1 responses and future pandemics face funding risks; a pandemic accord draft will be debated.

• Healthier Populations: WHO surpassed targets, with 1.4 billion more people healthier due to reduced tobacco use, cleaner air/fuels, and better WASH services. Rising obesity and alcohol misuse challenge gains.

• Key milestones: eliminating neglected tropical diseases in 7 nations, expanding mental health access to 70 million, vaccinating 500,000 Gaza children against polio, and distributing 259,000 mpox tests in Africa. Digital health tools now serve 2 billion with e-records. Over $1.7 billion pledged by 71 donors supports future efforts. The report highlights WHO’s commitment to efficient, accountable, evidence-based impact.

• Scientists at Centivax, led by Dr. Jacob Glanville, developed a broad-spectrum antivenom using antibodies from Timothy Friede, who self-injected venom from 16 deadly snakes over 18 years.

• Combining two of Friede’s antibodies with varespladib, a toxin-inhibiting drug, the cocktail fully protected mice against 13 of 19 WHO-listed venomous snakes and partially against six others.

• The antibodies target conserved toxin sites, enabling broad neutralization.

• Plans include testing in dogs and developing antivenoms for vipers. This approach could replace species-specific treatments, simplify stockpiling, and address antivenom shortages, especially in rural areas.

• Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda chaired a high-level meeting to review emergency health preparedness. Reviewed readiness of ambulances, medical supplies, Intensive Care Units, High Dependency Units, and hospital beds.

• Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri Cubes, manufactured by HLL Lifecare Limited under Project Aarogya Maitri, were included.

• Each Cube costs about 1.5 crore rupees and has been gifted to Ukraine and used during the Maha Kumbh Mela.

• Hospitals instructed to stock essential medicines, oxygen, blood, trauma kits. National institutes mobilised teams and training and mock drills were launched. A 24×7 control room is monitoring nationwide efforts.