In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, according to this scientific brief by WHO. It highlights who has been most affected and summarizes the effect of the pandemic on the availability of mental health services and how this has changed during the pandemic.

The last decade was the warmest on record, and leading organisations on climate change indicate that warmer temperatures are not a potential threat but a surety.

New report reveals serious problems of pesticide usage in India and points to poor regulation of hazardous agrochemicals. The current use pattern is implicated in widespread unauthorised uses of chlorpyrifos, fipronil, atrazine and paraquat in India, posing threat to food safety and environmental contamination.

Plastics were first developed in 1907 with the discovery of Bakelite, a synthetic polymer that could be easily massproduced. This invention led to countless innovations and new products as plastics became an essential material of the global economy. In 1989 the world produced about 100 million tonnes (Mt) of plastic every year.

Outdoor air pollution accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths worldwide, the majority of which are caused by exposure to fine particulate matter (or PM2.5) air pollution. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are among the major behavioural risk factors for many noncommunicable diseases (‎NCDs)‎, and quality of life and well-being. The available data show that the prevalence of physical inactivity among adults is 15% and among adolescents it is as high as 74% in the WHO South-East Asia Region.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change presented a notification for regulations for the extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste tyres that will be effective from the new fiscal year. According to the data, India scraps around 275,000 tyres each year but does not have a complete plan.

Exposure to air pollution has long been associated with mortality and shortened life expectancy and has been acknowledged as one of the main risk factors that affect people’s health worldwide. Among all air pollutants, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been identified as a substantial public health concern.

A new WHO report shows that close to 7 million deaths could be prevented by 2030 if low- and lower-middle-income countries were to make an additional investment of less than a dollar per person per year in the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

The Action Taken Report of the Committee deals with the action taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the recommendations contained in the Two Hundred and Twenty Ninth Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on the 'Management of COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Issues'.