The significant reductions in international funding for HIV prevention and treatment programmes may result in more than 10 million infections, and about 3 million deaths by 2030, according to a study published in The Lancet HIV journal on Thursday.

The study, conducted by a team at the Burnet Institute in Australia’s Melbourne models the impact of a projected 24 per cent reduction in global HIV funding by 2026. This follows announced aid cuts of 8 per cent to 70 per cent by key donors, including the US, Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. These five countries collectively fund over 90 per cent of global HIV assistance.

This could lead to an estimated “4.4 to 10.8 million additional new HIV infections and 770,000 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths in children and adults between 2025 and 2030 if funding cuts proposed by the top five donor countries, including the US and the UK, are not mitigated,” said the researchers.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi is expected to run human trials on India's first indigenously developed MRI machine system in October.

The indigenous 1.5 Tesla MRI system for medical imaging will be built at the Indigenous Magnetic Resonance Imaging (IMRI) -- a national mission, sponsored by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) and being implemented at the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER), an autonomous government institution under Meity.

C-DAC (Trivandrum), C-DAC (Kolkata), IUAC (New Delhi), and DSI-MIRC (Bangalore) will work as collaborating agencies to design and develop the MRI system.

Meity informed that "animal trials have been concluded".

In addition, “the subsystems development and testing of RF Power Amplifier, High power T/R switch, RF spectrometer, RF Coils, Rx. Front ends, control unit, couch, and IMRI software have been completed and integrated with the procured magnet, gradient coil, and gradient amplifier," it added.

A recent internal survey by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), on Tuesday, found that nearly 44 per cent of the total number of wards in areas under the corporation's jurisdiction, which included Kolkata and added areas, are dengue-prone, officials said.

The total number of the wards under KMC stands at 144.

As per the internal survey, 68 wards of them are dengue-prone, an insider from the corporation claimed.

"The corporation mapped all the 144 wards under its jurisdiction to identify the dengue-prone pockets based on past figures on this count. The benchmark in the matter is that if 10 or more persons in a particular ward have been tested positive for dengue last year, that particular ward is identified as the hotspot," a KMC official said.

As per records, the number of people tested positive for dengue in the KMC area witnessed an impressive decline in 2024 to just 1,316 from the figure of 13,926 in 2023.

Localised and community initiatives like TB Mukt Bharat can play a crucial role in fighting the menace of tuberculosis in India, said Anurag Thakur, BJP MP.

In a media article, he reflected on the country’s journey towards eliminating TB -- the world’s deadliest infection.

“Localised initiatives are reshaping perceptions about TB across India, echoing our national commitment to systematically expand TB elimination efforts in every state,” he wrote.

Besides TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the government has also expanded diagnostic capabilities through the increased use of CBNAAT and TrueNat machines, as well as strengthened treatment protocols, Thakur said.

In addition, the recent fiscal allocation of Rs 4,200 crore for the National TB Elimination Programme will further help the efforts.

The government has made remarkable strides in combating tuberculosis -- the world’s deadliest infectious disease, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on Monday.

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is observed annually on March 24 to raise awareness about the condition. The theme this year is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, Deliver”.

He also reaffirmed the government’s aim to eliminate TB by the end of 2025 -- a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017 to eradicate the infectious disease five years ahead of the global target.

“Our government has made remarkable strides in combating this disease through the National TB Elimination Programme,” Nadda said, in a post on social media platform X.

Children overweight or obese may be at an increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adulthood, according to a study.

COPD is a progressive lung disease that makes it hard to breathe and worsens over time.

While smoking is a major risk factor for COPD, other risk factors like environmental, occupational, and even early life factors are increasingly being recognised.

The study led by researchers from Copenhagen University in Denmark focuses on examining the link between a high body mass index (BMI) in childhood and COPD.

The team found that compared to women with an average childhood BMI, risks of chronic COPD were 10 per cent higher for those who had an above-average BMI trajectory.

The cumulative number of laboratory-confirmed mpox cases in Uganda has reached 4,342, with 31 deaths reported since the outbreak was declared in the East African country eight months ago, the Ugandan Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

A total of 25 new cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, with the capital, Kampala, the epicentre of the virus, registering 12 cases, the ministry said in a national situation report issued here.

According to health authorities, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other partners, has intensified preventive measures, including enhanced surveillance, case management, risk communication, community engagement, and public awareness campaigns to curb the virus's spread.

Western diet, often high in salt, sugar and fat, has the potential to raise the risk of cancer in the lungs, finds a study.

Previous research has shown the link between poor diet and cancers of organs like the liver and pancreas; thus the long-term impact of diet has been well studied.

"Lung cancer has not traditionally been thought of as a dietary-related disease," said Ramon Sun, Associate Professor and director of the University of Florida’s Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research.

"Diseases like pancreatic cancer or liver cancer, yes. However, when it comes to lung cancer, the idea that diet could play a role is rarely discussed," Sun added.

For the study, published in the journal Nature Metabolism, the team focussed on glycogen accumulation -- a storage molecule, made up of glucose, or a simple sugar. It has been found to accumulate at high levels across a variety of cancers and other diseases.

Violence and waves of displacements have overwhelmed the fragile healthcare system in El-Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur state, UN humanitarians said.

"More than 200 health facilities in El Fasher are not functioning, and there are severe shortages of medical staff, essential medicines and life-saving supplies," said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Humanitarian partners have been trying to provide medical supplies, but their efforts to deliver continue to be impeded by insecurity and access constraints, the office said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that more than 70 per cent of hospitals and health facilities across areas impacted by the hostilities in Sudan are no longer operational, leaving millions without healthcare.

Under the ambitious ‘75 by 25’ initiative, India has treated 42.01 million people for hypertension or high blood pressure and 25.27 million for diabetes, said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav in the Parliament.

The Government had in May 2023 unveiled the "75/25" initiative which aims to provide standardised care to 75 million people living with hypertension and diabetes in the country by December 2025.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Jadhav informed that the country “has achieved 89.7 per cent of the target” of treating the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic lung disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc. account for more than 70 per cent of deaths annually.