What are 5 key messages from WHO’s recent and largest review of global mental health?

By Anushka Pardikar It was in 2001 that the World Health Organisation (WHO) published the preceding World Health Report titled Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope. The 2001 report laid bare the impending crisis that the world was likely to set into considering the enormous public health and socio-economic impact of mental health illnesses. According to the report, the gravity of the crisis coupled with … Continue reading What are 5 key messages from WHO’s recent and largest review of global mental health?

Here is everything you want to know about Pride Month

By Aatif Iqbal In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, in New York City’s Greenwich village, police raided Stonewall Inn which was a popular place of gathering for young members of the LGBTQI+ community. Police rounded up the illegal liquor sellers, and arrested many patrons. This action of the police enraged the masses as it was seen as harassment to LGBTQI+ community members. … Continue reading Here is everything you want to know about Pride Month

An open letter to straight men in India

By Dr. Ameya Bondre To, The heterosexual man. Subject: Nine questions that may help you deconstruct your homophobia. Dear Sir, You represent a community whose hatred, prejudice and stigma have driven people to guilt, shame, depression and even suicides in India. Do you know how? Sample this – 1. Gay people are bullied and ridiculed in schools and colleges; and there is no real difference … Continue reading An open letter to straight men in India

Climate change is impacting gender and sexual minorities and we need to talk about it!

By Anushka Pardikar Climate change is universal and all-encompassing, yet, its effects are unequally distributed in a manner that one section of the society is disproportionately affected by repeated occurrences of climate disasters. The gravity of impact is directly proportional to the ability of individuals and communities to respond to climate risks which is in turn dependent upon social identities, and lived reality. It is … Continue reading Climate change is impacting gender and sexual minorities and we need to talk about it!

Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the dystopian social media carnival

By Mehak Bajpai The verdict is in. A US jury on Wednesday ruled that Johnny Depp was defamed by Amber Heard through her op-ed in the Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence, and faced our culture’s wrath.” Depp had also alleged that the op-ed made him lose significant movie roles and be ostracised in Hollywood. He claimed that his children and other … Continue reading Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and the dystopian social media carnival

Social Media and Mental Health: The debate is ignoring the realities of the developing world

By Dr. Ameya Bondre With the recent marriages of Microsoft and Facebook to ‘metaverse’ (“virtual reality + digital second life”), we are now on the verge of always being online and enter the mind of a computer. With the existing toll on mental health due to our parallel digital lives, what would this lead to? A mental health catastrophe, as suggested by a coalition of global scholars to ‘Meta’ CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Science and … Continue reading Social Media and Mental Health: The debate is ignoring the realities of the developing world

Fighting heatwave: Learning from Ahmedabad, making cities heat resilient

India is experiencing the hottest month of March in 122 years as per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) data. The data also notes that the number of heatwave days are only increasing with time. The country has witnessed a massive jump of 45% in the number of heatwave days between 1981 to 2020. Continue reading Fighting heatwave: Learning from Ahmedabad, making cities heat resilient

The Chess Game and the Fate of the Pawns: The Belarusian Border Crisis

By Yuvraj Singh Walia Almost seven months ago, in late 2021, the world witnessed the start of a horrifying border crisis of grave human rights violations between Belarus and the European Union. The crisis, still ongoing, has taken a devastating form wherein humans are being used as weapons to further vested interests, and cause turmoil and disruption. This dismal state of affairs needs immediate attention … Continue reading The Chess Game and the Fate of the Pawns: The Belarusian Border Crisis

Twitter Hangouts: Reimagining Healthcare in India with Dr. Sonali Vaid

The discussion was organized on the occasion of World Health Day and the theme for this year was “Our Planet, Our Health”. The discussion was moderated by Rishabh Shrivastava who gave a brief outline of the theme and explained why it is important to look at climate change as a threat to public health. For the discussion to begin, Rishabh set a brief background by talking about the key events from the last two years of the pandemic like reporting of the first case in India, imposition of lockdown, issuance of guidelines, vaccination campaign and other landmark events.  Continue reading Twitter Hangouts: Reimagining Healthcare in India with Dr. Sonali Vaid

Code Red: Decoding the latest IPCC climate risk report

By Padmini Subhashree The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has captured almost the whole of global media attention over the past few days.  And while it is unfortunate to be living in such times as to witness a massive military and humanitarian crisis unfold, it is further disappointing to read the recent report on climate change that warns about the creation of an irreversible … Continue reading Code Red: Decoding the latest IPCC climate risk report

Women’s safety and reproductive health must be the top priority for the UP government

By Rishabh Shrivastava Gender based violence (GBV) has been a long-standing challenge for Indian society. The recently released NFHS-5 reveals that 3 in every 10 women have faced GBV. Along with being a major law and order issue, GBV remains a giant barrier in realizing the health rights of women and girls in the country. It continues to deprive women and girls of bodily autonomy and … Continue reading Women’s safety and reproductive health must be the top priority for the UP government