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This was stated by Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Anupriya Patel at the inaugural session of the Second Policymakers’ Forum organised by Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC).

She further emphasized that “during the COVID-19 pandemic, India started the Vaccine Maitri initiative and supplied vaccines to more than 100 friendly countries which depicts India’s deep sense of responsibility towards global health and its intention of helping friendly countries in the times of distress.”

The Second Policymakers’ Forum, aimed at promoting recognition of the Indian Pharmacopoeia and collaboration in India’s flagship affordable medicines initiative—the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), is being organized by the IPC under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in association with the Ministry of External Affairs.

In her keynote address, Smt. Patel emphasized India’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to quality-assured medicines and stressed the importance of regulatory harmonization in facilitating global health equity. She also highlighted that “under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India has emerged as a global hub for affordable healthcare solutions and continues to deepen its partnerships with nations through knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, and health diplomacy.”

Underlining the importance of the Jan Aushadi Kendras, Smt. Patel stated that “our Jan Aushadhi Kendras are the shining examples of India’s commitment to provide quality and affordable medicines to all our citizens. Jan Aushadhi has been one of the most powerful instruments of bringing down the out-of-pocket expenditure of our citizens.”

Smt. Patel also added that “India continues to be a leader in drug manufacturing, especially when it comes to the generic medicines. 14% of generics imported by the US come from India while India also has the maximum number of US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recognized drug manufacturing plants.” She further underlined that “70% of our generics are exported to the highly regulated markets and our pharmacopeial regulations are regularly visited to meet the global benchmarks.”

Smt. Patel further stated that “we have retained the WHO’s Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) framework, Maturity Level 3 (ML3) status which reflects the robustness of India's regulatory framework. Presently, 15 countries in the world recognise Indian Pharmacopeia as a book of standards for drugs, Cuba recently becoming the 15th country to recognise the Indian Pharmacopeia.” She added that “it is not just a regulatory step, but a move towards bringing more alignment in the quality standards, expanding access to safe and effective drugs and making trade in pharmaceuticals smoother than ever before.”

Smt. Patel reaffirmed that “we are committed to helping our partner countries by way of communicating and planning” and “hope to continue to work together to advance the regulatory collaboration and promote the recognition of the pharmacopeial standards so that we can strive fast towards the shared goal of ‘Health for All’.”

Addressing the gathering, Union Health Secretary, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava stated that “India subscribes to the vision of "One Earth, One Health " and is committed towards goal of universal health coverage which is also one of our primary health goals. To fulfil this, we have established more than 1.75 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (formerly known as Health and Wellness Centres) where free drugs and diagnostics are provided.” She also talked about India’s health assurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) that provides a health coverage of up to 5 lakhs per family and caters to the 40% population of the country and highlighted that “in 2004, the share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure was 70%, which has come down to 40% today.”

Health Secretary further underlined that the increased availability of free drugs and diagnostics has been enabled by the production of generic medicines, noting that the number of free medicines provided at sub-health centres has risen from 36 to 106 over the past decade. She emphasized the role of AMRIT pharmacies in offering affordable branded medicines and medical devices, and noted that the forum will serve as a platform for bilateral cooperation, knowledge sharing, and future collaboration.

An international delegation of policymakers and drug regulators from 24 countries is participating in the forum. The event was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Punya Salila Srivastava; Secretary (South), Ministry of External Affairs, Dr. Neena Malhotra; Drug Controller General of India and Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, IPC, Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvansi.

The Forum has brought together policymakers and senior drug regulatory officials from 22 countries (Liberia, Togo, Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Rwanda, Lesotho, Eswatini, Kenya, Botswana, Ethiopia, Comoros, Seychelles, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Cuba, Barbados, and Chile), along with two delegates from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)- Jamica and Canada, reaffirming India’s position as a valued and trusted partner in the realm of global health. This engagement builds on the momentum generated by the First Policymakers’ Forum held in August 2024, which resulted in several participating countries formally recognizing the Indian Pharmacopoeia as a book of standards for drugs. The growing international interest in aligning with India’s regulatory frameworks reflects the credibility and scientific rigour of the Indian Pharmacopoeia, as well as India’s proactive role in advancing global public health objectives.

A commemorative digital publication marking IPC’s 15-year journey was launched during the event. The technical session featured presentations on the role and progress of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), the regulatory mechanisms of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), and the implementation and impact of the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).

Over the four-day program (June 16–19, 2025), delegates will engage in technical sessions focused on pharmacopeial standards, India’s regulatory landscape, and successful public health schemes. In addition, site visits to IPC’s state-of-the-art laboratories in Ghaziabad, a Jan Aushadhi Kendra in Agra, as well as leading pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing and R&D facilities in Ahmedabad, have been arranged to provide delegates with first-hand exposure to India's robust scientific and regulatory systems.

Shri Rajiv Wadhawan, Advisor (Cost), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; Dr. Ranga Chandrasekhar, Joint Drugs Controller; and Shri Ravi Dadhich, CEO of the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India and senior officers of the union government were present on the occasion.

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just ophthalmologists but family doctors, gynecologists, endocrinologists, oncologists and all other health care professionals involved in women’s

The UK is set to bask in 26C temperatures from today with the mercury predicted to soar even further to a potential 32C by next week -as hot as Barbados and Malibu.

On that note, we have assembled a menu of tidbits to help you get started. Meanwhile, we have also fired up the coffee kettle for another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is Mexican cinnamon. We hope your day is simply smashing and, as always, do keep in touch if something saucy arises …

Sarepta Therapeutics is halting shipments of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy for patients who can no longer walk, following the death of a second person who received the treatment, STAT writes. The company disclosed the first patient death — a 16-year-old boy — in March. Both occurred from acute liver failure, a side effect that has been seen with other gene therapies. Sarepta said both patients were non-ambulatory, meaning their disease had progressed to the point they relied on a wheelchair. Most children with Duchenne lose the ability to walk by adolescence. The company is now working with experts to come up with an enhanced immunosuppressive regimen that could make the therapy, called Elevidys, safer for non-ambulatory patients. Sarepta also said it was pausing dosing in an ongoing clinical trial of Elevidys, called Envision, that is focused on older ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients. 

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) introduced a bill that would ban pharmaceutical manufacturers from using direct-to-consumer advertising, including social media, to promote their products, The Wall Street Journal writes. The bill would prohibit any promotional communications targeting consumers, including through television, radio, print, digital platforms, and social media. It will apply to all prescription drug advertisements. The bill comes after repeated calls from Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to end prescription drug advertising. Kennedy said while running for president that he would issue an executive order kicking pharmaceutical commercials off television, arguing that Americans take too many prescription medicines and suggesting that industry spending was influencing news coverage of the drug industry. Sanders and King each voted against Kennedy’s confirmation, but are critics of prescription drug ads. King in February introduced a bill to prohibit pharmaceutical advertising to consumers in the first three years after a medicine’s approval, following other efforts in past years.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

Meanwhile, despite the issue being referred for further action, the names of the doctors have not been made public or shared with the National Medical Commission (NMC), raising questions about the progress of the case.

The DoP has refused to share the names of those 30 doctors, who were to face action from the National Medical Commission (NMC) for accepting pharma freebies in the form of those trips to Monaco and Paris.

For more information, click on the link below:

Who were the 30 doctors? RTI sparks questions over secrecy in Pharma Freebies case

Independent of weight reduction, study participants showed significant improvements in cardiometabolic markers, including higher HDL cholesterol (the healthy type of cholesterol), lower levels of leptin (the hormone that signals hunger), and less visceral fat (belly fat found deep inside the abdominal cavity, sometimes wrapping around organs).

“We have been conditioned to equate weight loss with health, and weight loss-resistant individuals are often labeled as failures,” said lead author Anat Yaskolka Meir, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School. “Our findings reframe how we define clinical success. People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That’s a message of hope, not failure.”

The study will be published June 5 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

The researchers analyzed changes in weight and health among 761 individuals with abdominal obesity in Israel who participated in three landmark workplace-based nutrition clinical trials (DIRECT, CENTRAL, and DIRECT-PLUS) with high adherence rates and comprehensive metabolic profiling. At each trial, participants were randomly assigned to adopt and adhere to healthy diets-including low-fat, low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, and green-Mediterranean diets-for between 18 and 24 months.

The study found that, across all of the clinical trials and all of the diets, 36% of participants achieved clinically significant weight loss (defined as losing more than 5% of their initial body weight); 36% achieved moderate weight loss (losing up to 5% of their initial body weight); and 28% were resistant to weight loss, losing no weight or gaining some. Weight loss was associated with a variety of health improvements: The researchers calculated that each kilogram lost was associated with a 1.44% increase in HDL cholesterol, a 1.37% decrease in triglycerides, a 2.46% drop in insulin, a 2.79% drop in leptin, and a 0.49-unit reduction in liver fat, along with reductions in blood pressure and liver enzymes.

The study also found, however, that participants who were resistant to weight change-who tended to be older and/or women-showed many of the same improvements. They had more good cholesterol; lower levels of leptin, leading to less hunger; and less harmful visceral fat.

“These are deep metabolic shifts with real cardiometabolic consequences,” said Yaskolka Meir. “Our study showed that a healthy diet works, even when weight doesn’t shift.”

The researchers also utilized cutting-edge omics tools and discovered 12 specific DNA methylation sites that strongly predict long-term weight loss.

“This novel finding shows that some people may be biologically wired to respond differently to the same diet,” said corresponding author Iris Shai, principal investigator of the nutrition trials and adjunct professor of nutrition at Harvard Chan School. “This isn’t just about willpower or discipline—it’s about biology. And now we’re getting close to understanding it.”

The study had some limitations, namely that the majority of participants were men. The researchers noted that future similar studies should focus on women.

Reference:

Anat Yaskolka Meir, Gal Tsaban, Ehud Rinott, Hila Zelicha, Dan Schwarzfuchs, Yftach Gepner, Assaf Rudich, Ilan Shelef, Matthias Blüher, Michael Stumvoll, Uta Ceglarek, Berend Isermann, Nora Klöting, Maria Keller, Peter Kovacs, Lu Qi, Dong D Wang, Liming Liang, Frank B Hu, Meir J Stampfer, Iris Shai, Individual response to lifestyle interventions: a pooled analysis of three long-term weight loss trials, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2025;, zwaf308, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf308