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Recently, oncologist Dr. Vincent Rajkumar expressed his shock on social media over the fact that two different drugs, treating entirely different conditions, had identical brand names — ‘Linamac’.
While the drug bearing the name ‘Linamac 5’ is used to treat multiple myeloma, which is a type of cancer, the other drug bearing the name ‘Linamac’ is a drug used to treat diabetes. The consequences of confusion between these medications at the pharmacy can be serious for patients.
The use of identical trade names for drugs with different active ingredients is an old problem in India, and the medical community has been complaining about the issue for several decades.
The most popular example cited by doctors is that of the brand name Medzole, which is used by four different companies to sell four different active ingredients treating entirely different medical conditions.
The first company uses ‘Medzol’ to sell a drug containing Midazolam which is used as a sedative. The second company uses the name ‘Medzole-DSR’ to sell a combination of domperidone and pantoprazole which is used to treat stomach acidity.
A third company uses the name ‘Medzole 400’ for a formulation containing albendazole that is used in deworming treatment for children.
A fourth company uses ‘Medzole 200’ for a formulation containing Itraconazole, which is a powerful antifungal drug used to treat diseases such as “black fungus”.
Opinion
Providing clean water to all (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
In the hilly village of Kyarkuli Bhatta in Uttarakhand, there is no mass migration anymore. The tribal hamlet of Kusumdih in Jharkhand has seen a reduction in human-animal conflicts.
And in Chandpur village in Maharashtra, weddings are being celebrated with pomp and show again. This is because there is tap water in all these regions, provided by the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission has already provided tap water to 73% of rural households. This means that more than 14 crore rural households have tap connections compared to only 3.23 crore in August 2019.
Through the Mission, guided by the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas’, India is rapidly advancing towards the realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 (clean water and sanitation for all).
We embarked on this journey with the objective of providing piped water in adequate quantities and of prescribed quality on a regular and long-term basis to every rural household in India.
We wanted to ensure that no one had to face water scarcity and its consequences on health, hygiene, and well-being. At the national level, we focused on strengthening infrastructure, which was a big challenge because of the diverse terrains and geographical differences in India. We brought together communities, development partners, and NGOs.
Text & Context
Reconsidering the free movement regime (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
At a passing out parade of the Assam police commandos in Guwahati on January 20, Home Minister Amit Shah said the 1,643 km India-Myanmar border would soon be fenced.
He also said the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement with Myanmar would be reconsidered to stop border residents from moving into each other’s country without any paperwork.
Much of India’s present-day northeast was temporarily under Burmese occupation until the British pushed them out in the 1800s. The victors and the vanquished signed the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, leading to the current alignment of the boundary between India and Burma, later renamed Myanmar.
The border divided people of the same ethnicity and culture — specifically the Nagas of Nagaland and Manipur and the Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities of Manipur and Mizoram — without their consent. In some stretches, the border split a village or a house between the two countries.
Wary of increasing Chinese influence in Myanmar, New Delhi began working on improving diplomatic ties with the Myanmar government a decade ago. After almost a year’s delay, the FMR came about in 2018 as part of the Narendra Modi government’s Act East policy. The Rohingya refugee crisis that began in August 2017 caused the delay.
The FMR allows people living on either side of the border to travel up to 16 km inside each other’s country without a visa. A border resident needs to have a border pass, valid for a year, to stay in the other country for about two weeks per visit.
The FMR also envisaged the promotion of localised border trade through customs stations and designated markets apart from helping the people of Myanmar access better education and healthcare facilities on the Indian side of the border.
News
Centre releases new regimen for leprosy treatment (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Union government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming at stopping its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027.
A letter written by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the National Leprosy Eradication Programme is taking all the required steps to stop the transmission of the infection.
“Now with the approval of the competent authority, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to introduce a three-drug regimen for Pauci-Bacillary (PB) cases in place of a two-drug regimen for six months,” the letter written by Sudarshan Mandal, Deputy Director-General, DGHS, said.
The January 17 letter said that the move follows the “latest, globally accepted scientific research studies and evidence-based practices”.
It further added that the World Health Organization (WHO) had agreed to supply the revised drug regimen from April 1, 2025. Thus, all States and Union Territories have now been asked to send their requisitions for anti-leprosy drugs 12 months beforehand. The revised classification of leprosy and the treatment regimen for PB and multi-bacillary (MB) cases in India will be implemented from the same date.
Top court gets new judge; to function with full strength (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Union government on Wednesday notified the appointment of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale as a judge of the Supreme Court. Justice Varale is scheduled to be sworn in by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
His appointment has filled the sole vacancy in the court which had arisen with the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25 last year.
The sanctioned judicial strength of the court is 34. The collegium had recommended his appointment as an top court judge in a resolution on January 19. Justice Varale has served as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka from October 15, 2022.
He is currently the only High Court Chief Justice from a Scheduled Caste community. He is also the senior-most High Court judge belonging to a Scheduled Caste.
Business
Flash PMI signals rebound in economic momentum in Jan. (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Private sector industrial and services activity rebounded this month as per a new HSBC Flash India PMI, which showed new orders rose in January at the fastest pace in six months, while overall activity levels were at a four-month high.
The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index — a new seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and services sectors — was at 61 in January, compared with 58.5 in December.
The Flash PMI, unveiled on Wednesday, is based on responses from about 75% to 85% of 800 services and industry firms that are surveyed each month to arrive at the comprehensive PMI that is available in the first week of the subsequent month.
“Operating capacities remained under pressure, encouraging firms to hire additional workers,” S&P Global and HSBC India said in a statement.
Another factor that underpinned job creation was a pick-up in business confidence. The inaugural flash results also highlighted an intensification of cost pressures, but selling prices were raised to a smaller extent.”
World
Turkiye ratifies Sweden’s NATO membership after protracted delay (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Turkiye’s Parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership after more than a year of delays that upset Western efforts to show resolve in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Lawmakers voted 287-55 in favour of the Nordic nation’s attempt to become the 32nd member of the security alliance after it won the public backing of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish leader is expected to sign Sweden’s ratification document and conclude Ankara’s role in the protracted saga in the coming days.
“Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on social media after the vote.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Turkey’s move and called on Hungary to do the same, urging Budapest to “complete its national ratification as soon as possible”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday said he reaffirmed in a phone call with Mr. Stoltenberg his “support” for Sweden’s membership to the security alliance.
Mr. Orban also sent a letter to Mr. Kristersson inviting him to Budapest to discuss the bid “at your earliest convenience”.
Science
The urgent need for data to make personalised medicine equitable (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Warfarin is a powerful blood thinner and a leading drug for cardiovascular disease worldwide. But in South Africa, it is among the top four drug varieties leading to hospitalisation from adverse drug reactions.
It’s reasonable to suppose that the drug has similar problematic effects farther across sub-Saharan Africa, though the national data needed to show it are lacking.
The fact that warfarin is riskier in some populations than others isn’t a surprise. Different geographic regions tend to host people with slightly different genetic makeups, and sometimes those genetic differences lead to radically different reactions to drugs.
For certain people, a higher dosage of warfarin is fine; for others, it’s dangerous. Researchers have known this for decades.