#Anant Bhan

[indizombie]

Another drug that is in huge demand is tocilizumab. It is normally used to treat arthritis but studies have shown that it can reduce the chances of a very sick patient needing to go on a ventilator. Doctors are prescribing the drug mostly to patients who are severely sick. But it has disappeared from the market. Cipla, the Indian company that imports and sells the drug, has been struggling to meet the rising demand. It usually costs around 32,480 rupees for a vial of 400mg. But Kamal Kumar paid 250,000 rupees to buy one dose for his father. He said the price was "mind boggling" but he had no other option but to pay. But not many in India can afford to pay the price and they are being exploited in their desperation to save their loved ones. Public health expert Anant Bhan says the government should have procured the drug in huge quantities. "Not many can afford to pay the official price of the drug, forget about the black market prices. This shows that there was no planning. The government failed to anticipate the wave and plan for it," he says. "People have been left to their own fate."

‘India Covid: Patients struggle at home as hospitals choke’, BBC

#BBC #India #Covid-19 #Coronavirus #tocilizumab #Cipla #Kamal Kumar #black market #Anant Bhan #planning #drug procurement #Government of India

[lightoftrichy]

Patients’ Rights in India book , Authored by Dr. Mohamed Khader Meeran & Edited by Dr. Savithri Devi

Introduction of this book is written by  Dr. Amar Jesani (Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics)

Foreword was written by Dr. Nitin Gangane ( Dean, MGIMS Sevagram) & Dr. Anant Bhan ( Researcher, Global health & Policy)

This book is available in

1. Amazon : https://www.amazon.in/dp/9354939112/

2. Publisher’s Website : http://civilianvoice.in (Free shipping anywhere in India)

#patients rights in india #patient's rights #amar jesani #anant bhan #nitin gangane #mohamed khader meeran #savithri devi #civilianvoice #civilianvoice.in #9789354939112

[updexnews]

Top science academy says ICMR head’s August 15 vaccine deadline ‘unfeasible’ | India News - Times of India

Top science academy says ICMR head’s August 15 vaccine deadline ‘unfeasible’ | India News – Times of India

[ad_1]

New Delhi: The letter from the ICMR director general asking researchers to speed up trials and processes to meet the government’s deadline of August 15 and be the first in the race to launch a vaccine for Covid-19 has attracted widespread criticism and dented the credibility and reputation of the country’s apex research organisation. On Sunday, India’s foremost science academy, the Indian…

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#anant bhan #Breaking news #Google news #India #India news #India news today #Indian Academy #processes #public health movement #the ethical guidelines for clinical trials #Today news

[newsupdatedaily]

Shocking, disrespectful to the dead: Policy expert takes on govt claim of zero oxygen-related Covid deaths

Shocking, disrespectful to the dead: Policy expert takes on govt claim of zero oxygen-related Covid deaths

Policy expert Anant Bhan discusses the Health minister’s surprising statement that lack of oxygen caused no death in India. Edited excerpts from his interview with ET Now’s Tamanna Inamdar: Tamanna Inamdar: The Health minister just said there were no specific instances of deaths due to lack of oxygen. Are you shocked? Anant Bhan: Yes, it is shocking. It is, in many ways, also disrespectful to…

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#covid #covid deaths #Mansukh Mandaviya #modi #Monsoon Session #New Health Minister #Oxygen

[noorenazarnews]

India Covid deaths soar toll past 250,000

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India’s coronavirus death toll surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday, official data showed, as the pandemic raged across the vast country of 1.3 billion people. According to the health ministry, 4,205 people died in the past 24 hours -- a new record -- taking total fatalities to 254,197. The number of cases rose almost 350,000 to 23.3 million, the second-highest after the United States. While the pandemic is easing in major cities, the virus appears to be running unchecked in India’s vast rural hinterland where two-thirds of its people live. Many experts believe the official numbers of people dying in India, which has one of the world’s poorest-funded health care systems, are an underestimate. "Deaths are much higher than what our official data is revealing," Anant Bhan, an independent health policy and bioethics researcher, told AFP. Read the full article

#000 #IndiaCoviddeathssoartollpast250

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/03/04/after-india-jabs-millions-its-covid-19-vaccine-shows-potency/

After India Jabs Millions, Its Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Potency

NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious but troubled campaign to vaccinate its vast population against Covid-19 — and, in the process, to burnish its own reputation as a manufacturer and innovator — just got a big boost.

An Indian drug company said late Wednesday that initial results from clinical trials involving nearly 26,000 subjects showed that a homegrown Indian vaccine was both safe and effective. The company, Bharat Biotech, said that its Covaxin vaccine had an initial efficacy rate of 81 percent.

The results from the interim analysis have yet to be peer reviewed, the company said. It was unclear how effective Covaxin would prove to be in a final analysis.

Still, the results were met with relief in India. Covaxin had been approved by government officials in January and administered to millions of people before it had been publicly proved to be safe or effective. Many people in India, including frontline health care workers, had feared Covaxin could be ineffective or worse, slowing down New Delhi’s campaign to inoculate 1.3 billion people.

Officials in Brazil, where the government had bought doses of Covaxin, had recently questioned whether this vaccine actually worked.

The results this week could alleviate some of those concerns, said Dr. Anant Bhan, a health researcher at Melaka Manipal Medical College in southern India. Still, he said, questions will linger over Covaxin until the research is completed.

“This data will now need to be examined by the regulator in India and could then have an impact on the regulatory decisions with regards to the vaccine,” Dr. Bhan said.

If the results hold, they could also benefit Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, and his Hindu nationalist political party. Mr. Modi has stressed making India self-reliant, and an effective, Indian-developed vaccine could help that campaign.

India’s approval of Covaxin for emergency use was announced in early January on the same day as approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is known in India as Covishield. When the vaccination drive started less than two weeks later, most people were not allowed to choose which jab they got.

To support the vaccine, Mr. Modi publicly took the Covaxin jab on Monday. Images of other federal ministers and heads of regional governments taking the Indian-made vaccine were posted on social media.

But Gargeya Telakapalli, a public health expert, said the emergency approval of Covaxin raised suspicions among frontline workers and prompted questions about India’s regulatory process. That added uncertainty to the vaccination process in general.

Updated 

March 4, 2021, 6:57 a.m. ET

“I know many health care workers who were not very confident to take Covaxin and preferred Covishield,” said Mr. Telakapalli, who works in India with the People’s Health Movement, a global network of grass-roots health activists. “The rush for the approval has not helped Covaxin, although no one is saying there is any problem with the vaccine.”

In part because of the risk of getting a vaccine that hadn’t been proved safe, many people in India have declined to get jabbed, contributing to the slow rollout of the campaign. The effort to vaccinate the country’s huge population was already logistically challenging, involving transporting doses to far-flung places while controlling the environment around them.

The government aimed to vaccinate about 300 million people by August. As of Wednesday, it had inoculated about 16 million. At that rate, covering the population could take years. The authorities have expanded eligibility from essential workers to include people over 60 and those above 45 with significant health risks.

Last week, an advisory board for Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, India’s pharmaceutical regulator, rejected Bharat Biotech’s request for a Covaxin trial on children between the ages of 5 and 18, saying the company should first submit a report on the efficacy of its vaccine.

What You Need to Know About the Vaccine Rollout

The uncertainty could hinder Bharat Biotech’s ambitions to sell Covaxin to countries like Brazil. Last week, prosecutors there sought the immediate suspension of Covaxin purchases after the government signed a contract to buy 20 million doses.

The company has been undaunted. Bharat Biotech, which developed Covaxin with the National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research, has already supplied 5.5 million shots of its vaccine for the Indian government’s vaccination campaign.

On Wednesday, the company said the final stage of the Covaxin trial had involved 25,800 volunteers across the country.

Officials at the Indian Council of Medical Research said in a statement that the eight-month effort to produce a locally made vaccine was a testament to the country’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower.

“The development and deployment of Covaxin ensures that India has a powerful weapon in its arsenal in a continually evolving pandemic situation and will go a long way in helping us win the war against Covid-19,” said Dr. Samiran Panda, an official at the council.

Source

[orbemnews]

After India Jabs Millions, Its Covid-19 Vaccine Shows Potency NEW DELHI — India’s ambitious but troubled campaign to vaccinate its vast population against Covid-19 — and, in the process, to burnish its own reputation as a manufacturer and innovator — just got a big boost. An Indian drug company said late Wednesday that initial results from clinical trials involving nearly 26,000 subjects showed that a homegrown Indian vaccine was both safe and effective. The company, Bharat Biotech, said that its Covaxin vaccine had an initial efficacy rate of 81 percent. The results from the interim analysis have yet to be peer reviewed, the company said. It was unclear how effective Covaxin would prove to be in a final analysis. Still, the results were met with relief in India. Covaxin had been approved by government officials in January and administered to millions of people before it had been publicly proved to be safe or effective. Many people in India, including frontline health care workers, had feared Covaxin could be ineffective or worse, slowing down New Delhi’s campaign to inoculate 1.3 billion people. Officials in Brazil, where the government had bought doses of Covaxin, had recently questioned whether this vaccine actually worked. The results this week could alleviate some of those concerns, said Dr. Anant Bhan, a health researcher at Melaka Manipal Medical College in southern India. Still, he said, questions will linger over Covaxin until the research is completed. “This data will now need to be examined by the regulator in India and could then have an impact on the regulatory decisions with regards to the vaccine,” Dr. Bhan said. If the results hold, they could also benefit Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, and his Hindu nationalist political party. Mr. Modi has stressed making India self-reliant, and an effective, Indian-developed vaccine could help that campaign. India’s approval of Covaxin for emergency use was announced in early January on the same day as approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is known in India as Covishield. When the vaccination drive started less than two weeks later, most people were not allowed to choose which jab they got. To support the vaccine, Mr. Modi publicly took the Covaxin jab on Monday. Images of other federal ministers and heads of regional governments taking the Indian-made vaccine were posted on social media. But Gargeya Telakapalli, a public health expert, said the emergency approval of Covaxin raised suspicions among frontline workers and prompted questions about India’s regulatory process. That added uncertainty to the vaccination process in general. Updated  March 4, 2021, 5:30 a.m. ET “I know many health care workers who were not very confident to take Covaxin and preferred Covishield,” said Mr. Telakapalli, who works in India with the People’s Health Movement, a global network of grass-roots health activists. “The rush for the approval has not helped Covaxin, although no one is saying there is any problem with the vaccine.” In part because of the risk of getting a vaccine that hadn’t been proved safe, many people in India have declined to get jabbed, contributing to the slow rollout of the campaign. The effort to vaccinate the country’s huge population was already logistically challenging, involving transporting doses to far-flung places while controlling the environment around them. The government aimed to vaccinate about 300 million people by August. As of Wednesday, it had inoculated about 16 million. At that rate, covering the population could take years. The authorities have expanded eligibility from essential workers to include people over 60 and those above 45 with significant health risks. Last week, an advisory board for Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, India’s pharmaceutical regulator, rejected Bharat Biotech’s request for a Covaxin trial on children between the ages of 5 and 18, saying the company should first submit a report on the efficacy of its vaccine. What You Need to Know About the Vaccine Rollout The uncertainty could hinder Bharat Biotech’s ambitions to sell Covaxin to countries like Brazil. Last week, prosecutors there sought the immediate suspension of Covaxin purchases after the government signed a contract to buy 20 million doses. The company has been undaunted. Bharat Biotech, which developed Covaxin with the National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research, has already supplied 5.5 million shots of its vaccine for the Indian government’s vaccination campaign. On Wednesday, the company said the final stage of the Covaxin trial had involved 25,800 volunteers across the country. Officials at the Indian Council of Medical Research said in a statement that the eight-month effort to produce a locally made vaccine was a testament to the country’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower. “The development and deployment of Covaxin ensures that India has a powerful weapon in its arsenal in a continually evolving pandemic situation and will go a long way in helping us win the war against Covid-19,” said Dr. Samiran Panda, an official at the council. Source link Orbem News #Covid19 #India #jabs #Millions #Potency #Shows #Vaccine

[indizombie]

Many Indian cities are reporting a chronic shortage of hospital beds. It's also evident in the desperate cries for help on social media platforms. Disturbing reports of people dying without getting timely treatment are coming from all over the country. Badly-affected cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad have almost run out of hospital beds. The situation is not very different in other cities, such as Lucknow, Bhopal, Kolkata, Allahabad and Surat. Public health expert Anant Bhan says officials did not use the lean period to boost facilities. "We didn't learn any lesson from the first wave. We had reports of some cities running out of beds even in the first wave and that should have been a good enough reason to be prepared for the second wave," he said. He adds that there appears to be a lack of co-ordination between states and the federal government over the supply of oxygen and essential drugs. "We need a consolidated response and resources should be shared between states."

Vikas Pandey & Shadab Nazmi, 'Covid-19 in India: Why second coronavirus wave is devastating', BBC

#BBC #Vikas Pandey #Shadab Nazmi #India #Covid-19 #Coronavirus #Delhi #Mumbai #Ahmedabad #Lucknow #Bhopal #Kolkata #Allahabad #Surat #Anant Bhan

[bbcbreakingnews]

Academicians, scientists see red over Centre directive to seek nod for virtual seminars

MUMBAI: The recent central government directive asking public-funded institutions, including educational institutions, PSUs or any organisation controlled by state or centre, to seek prior approval for conducting virtual international seminars and also get the names of participants approved has raised concerns among academicians, scientists and doctors. Many see it as a move to curtail democratic space and are wary about the broad classification, which is subjective. The guidelines mention that events related to security of state, border, J&M issues, which are purely related to India’s internal matters, or sensitive subjects in political, scientific, technical, commercial or personal with provisions of sharing data will also require MEA’s clearance. An administrative secretary’s approval will be required for government officials/scientists/doctors participating in virtual international conferences too, as per the directive. Aniket Sule from Homi Bhabha Institute of Science Education, TIFR, said that there are major concerns with the centre’s directive. “Informing the government about a conference where international speakers are invited was always the norm. But there were concerns of security breach, about them physically visiting sensitive locations. But now no participants are visiting the country physically and therefore, it should not be a problem,” said Sule. He also said that academicians visiting abroad for events or even attending it online, never needed approval. “Plenty of such events happen across the world and Indians are invited, the respective departments will be flooded with requests and they will not be able to process it on time,” he said. Soumitro Banerjee, from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, said that their institute is yet to get the directive from the centre, but added that he has apprehensions on how this would impact the open forum in science. “If there are security concerns it is understandable. But science is international and an open movement and any kind of roadblock will be detrimental for the growth of science. There are interactive sessions, where sessions are held on YouTube and the link is open to all, one cannot control who attends these sessions. Also, delays in getting approvals from the government, will effectively impact our participation in events,” said Banerjee. The order has come as a surprise to the medical fraternity who said that online forums have become the primary source of information and knowledge exchange during the pandemic. Amar Jesani, a physician researcher and editor of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, called the decision “absurd”. “It is another unfortunate instance of closing down democratic space and scientific interaction,” he said, adding that cyberspace has no physical boundaries. “It’s a free space where people discuss work and research freely. India will become a laughing stock with such decisions, he said. Jesani also questioned how such controls can be exercised on Facebook and YouTube where anyone can participate or ask a question. Bhopal-based Dr Anant Bhan, a researcher in bioethics said that science thrives through international academic exchange and discussions. “In today’s world, this includes both physical and online modes. Already, government scientists and doctors have to take clearances for participation in meetings at institutional and other levels. To add another level of bureaucracy to this, especially procedural, is creating another barrier for Indian scientists,” he said. A senior oncologist who has participated in several dozen webinars during the lockdown, said, “The government should have clarified its motive. Is it to monitor the content or because most of the hosting platforms are international,” he said. At Mumbai’s civic-run medical colleges, the norm is usually to get a go-ahead from the department or institute head and for international travel from administrative heads in BMC. “There was a norm to seek approval from CM’s office for any foreign visit, but it’s not followed in practice,” said one of the deans.

source https://bbcbreakingnews.com/2021/02/01/academicians-scientists-see-red-over-centre-directive-to-seek-nod-for-virtual-seminars/