-TheWire.in * The Parliamentary standing committee on chemicals and fertilisers has produced a report highlighting gaps in the availability of COVID-19 drugs and devices during the pandemic. * The committee has asked the national government why PSUs didn’t receive licenses to make COVID drugs when private manufacturers did. * The MPs on the committee also spotlighted widespread irrational drug use in COVID-19 management, despite the existence of a standard treatment protocol. New Delhi: The...

-NDTV.com The revised COVID-19 treatment guidelines spelt out the conditions for mild, moderate and severe disease. New Delhi: Doctors should avoid giving steroids to COVID-19 patients, the government has said in its revised clinical guidelines for coronavirus treatment, days after its task force chief expressed regret for the overuse of the drug during the second wave. The revised guidelines said that drugs like steroids can increase the risk of a secondary infection like...

-Scroll.in In an endemic future, we will need to learn what levels of disease and death to expect. During the pandemic, many scientific debates have become highly politicised. These include debates around fatality rates, the mortality impact of the pandemic, herd immunity, vaccination, and various drugs and treatments. It has been common for unlikely or absurd claims to be couched in the language of science and data. So, it is not surprising that...

-TheWire Science * The Indian government has consistently discouraged compulsory licenses on generic drugs.   * One of the big questions the India government has not answered is why it isn’t using pharma PSUs to produce drugs and vaccines. * Not one member of Indian industry is willing to stand up and fight for compulsory licenses, and for patients, says lawyer Murali Neelakantan. India has played a crucial role in supporting South Africa, as a...

-IndiaSpend.com Health data relating to 2020-21 and April-May 2021 in the National Health Mission's Health Management Information System showed a spike in unexplained mortality in rural areas, and disruptions in India's routine immunisations during the Covid-19 pandemic Chennai: Key official health data that pointed to excess mortality and disrupted health services during the Covid-19 pandemic have suddenly gone offline, an IndiaSpend investigation shows. While government officials say that the reason for the...