The Global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (2016–2030) provides a roadmap for ending preventable deaths of women, children and adolescents by 2030 and helping them achieve their potential for and rights to health and well-being in all settings. The global strategy has three objectives: survive (end preventable deaths); thrive (ensure health and well-being); and transform (expand enabling environments).

Underreporting hampers the accurate estimation of the numbers of infant and maternal deaths and stillbirths in India. In Haryana state, a surveillance-based model – the Maternal Infant Death Review System – was launched in 2013 to try to resolve this issue. The system is a mixture of routine passive data collection and active surveillance by specially recruited and trained field volunteers.

It is generally acknowledged that e-cigarettes are unlikely to be as harmful as conventional cigarettes, but there is little data that quantifies their relative harms. We investigated the biological response to e-cigarette aerosol exposure (versus conventional cigarette smoke exposure) at the cellular level, by exposing human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) to aqueous filtered extracts of e-cigarette aerosol or cigarette smoke and looking at gene expression changes consistent with a stress response.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an arthropodborne member of the genus Flavivirus of the Spondweni serocomplex and is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes (primarily Ae. aegypti in urban and periurban cycles). ZIKV emerged in Africa and has caused outbreaks of febrile disease that clinically resemble dengue fever and other arboviral diseases but has been linked to neurologic syndromes and congenital malformation.

Although India had some successes in controlling malaria from the time of independence, it still faces a substantial socio-economic burden from this disease. This paper presents a case study of a highly endemic primary health centre with an annual parasite incidence of 30.9 in the tribal regions of Andhra Pradesh. It reviews the various operations involved in vector control methods like bed nets, insecticide spraying and anti-larval operations.

How realistic is the objective of the Government of India to double the income of farmers by 2022? Is there a precedent? From estimates of change in income of agricultural households over the period 2003-13, this article suggests what needs to be done to achieve a doubling of real incomes. A focus on income from cultivation alone will be inadequate. Policy aimed at increasing net income from animal farming will be key.

Gastroenteritis is a common pediatric illness. Electrolyte maintenance solution is recommended to treat and prevent dehydration. Its advantage in minimally dehydrated children is unproven. The objective of the study was to determine if oral hydration with dilute apple juice/preferred fluids is noninferior to electrolyte maintenance solution in children with mild gastroenteritis.

The epidemic of microcephaly in Brazil has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO.1 The declaration states that a causal relationship between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, although not yet scientifically proven.1 The hesitancy to accept causation in the presence of much epidemiological circumstantial evidence is due to the paucity of laboratory confirmation of Zika virus in affected neonates. Here, we report the serological confirmation of Zika virus infection in the CNS of 30 neonates with microcephaly.

Storm surges, leading to catastrophic coastal flooding, are amongst the most feared natural hazards due to the high population densities and economic importance of littoral areas. Using the Central Mediterranean Sea as a model system, we provide strong evidence for enhanced periods of storminess leading to coastal flooding during the last 4500 years. We show that long-term correlations can be drawn between storminess and solar activity, acting on cycles of around 2200-yr and 230-yr.

Few studies have assessed long-term effects of particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter