DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Higher Salt Consumption in India: GS II – Health-related issues
Why in news:
- According to a study, the average daily salt intake in India is 8 g (8.9 g for men and 7.1 g for women), which is higher than the WHO’s recommended daily intake of up to 5 g.
Major conclusions of the report:
- A recent investigation by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) published in the journal Nature found that people who were overweight or obese, lived in rural regions, and were men consumed much more salt.
- The research was done as a component of India’s National Non-communicable Disease Monitoring Survey.
- It was observed that the sample population did not perceive excessive salt consumption and its adverse effects, nor did they practise limiting their intake.
- According to the study, individuals who were employed (8.6 g), smokers (8.3 g), and those with high blood pressure (8.5 g) consumed more salt.
- It states that cutting back is a healthy and economical approach to lower high blood pressure by 25% and recommends a 30% decrease in the average population’s salt intake by 2025.
- The most often used strategy to prevent salt overdose was to avoid eating meals outside the home, as less than half of the participants followed this advice.
- In India, cardiovascular illnesses are thought to be responsible for 28.1% of all fatalities.
- Compared to 0.78 million fatalities in 1990, hypertension was a contributing factor in 1.63 million deaths in 2016.
Relevance of the research:
- A validated approach for assessing dietary sodium intake was utilised in the study, which involved estimating dietary sodium intake from spot urine samples in a nationally representative sample.
- Because sampling weights were used to establish the population mean, the study’s conclusions may be applied to plan and carry out dietary salt reduction initiatives at the population level.
Restrictions on the research:
- Since the data on salt consumption knowledge and behaviour was self-reported, bias in the data may have occurred.
- For the purpose of any correlation analysis, the study did not collect data on the actual dietary sources of salt in foods and condiments.
Source The Hindu
2 – Tiger Census in India: GS III – Environmental Conservation
Why in news:
- The Odisha government has revealed its plans for conducting the tiger census after announcing its own and contesting the results of the All-India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2022.
Important information:
- According to the AITE report, more than half of Odisha’s tigers from 2016 have disappeared, leaving the Satkosia Tiger Reserve—one of the state’s two declared tiger reserves—without any.
- Odisha now has 20 tigers, compared to 45 in 2006.
- From 8 in 2018 to 16 in 2022, the population at the other reserve, the Similipal Tiger Reserve, has doubled.
- The Odisha government started getting ready for a census of its own since it disagreed with the AITE’s approach.
Odisha’s argument:
- Officials from the Odisha Forest Department stated that because of the comparatively low sampling intensity, the numbers shown in AITE-2022 may not be an accurate representation of the quantity, presence, and occupancy of tigers in Odisha.
- They said that despite the AITE protocol’s need that phase-I surveys be conducted in all forest beats and phase-III surveys in all possible tiger-bearing forest blocks, the surveys were only conducted in a small number of locations in Odisha.
- According to the state, there were 733 camera traps installed in Odisha overall, compared to 6,894 and 4,872 in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, respectively.
What is the purpose of Odisha’s own survey?
- In order to enable more thorough monitoring and protection, it is intended to have a more accurate estimate of the total number of tigers in the state as well as the blocks of forest that they inhabit.
- Additionally, the state administration has said that it will count more often than the AITE, which counts every four years.
- It stated that only adult tigers are counted in each cycle due to the four-year delay.
- Sub-adults who would have attained adulthood before to the next AITE’s due date are consequently excluded.
Where will the poll be conducted?
- The survey will be conducted throughout the remainder of Odisha by splitting the state into two groups, with the exception of the four coastal districts, where tigers are not known to be present:
- reserves of tigers and
- blockages of woodland outside of tiger reserves.
How will this survey be administered?
- By using video traps and DNA analysis of scats, the survey seeks to estimate the number of tigers in the state each year and create a tiger occupancy map based on primary field data.
Stage I:
- The survey will be conducted in stages. During the preliminary phase, secondary data on tigers will be gathered from multiple sources, and the divisions, ranges, and forest blocks that will be included in the “sign survey” will be finalised.
Stage II:
- Phase II of the survey really begins in the field, where data gathered from secondary sources is verified locally.
- Along the pre-planned trails inside a census unit, indirect evidence such as pug and scat markings, scratch marks on trees, rake marks, animal kills, and the alarm call by prey animals will be gathered during the sign survey.
- The big cats’ species and sex will be determined through genetic analysis of the scat samples.
Stage III:
- Phase III will begin with the installation of camera traps following the conclusion of the sign survey, which identifies beats where tigers are present.
Stage IV:
- Prior to compiling the results, camera trap photos and DNA samples from scats will be analysed in the fourth and final stages.
In summary:
- A positive move has been taken by the state administration to obtain a more accurate estimate of large cats.
- The Pugmark method will assist the forest department in developing micro-plans for tiger protection, as well as in properly placing camera traps and allocating forest employees.
- The census is a good initiative, but its effectiveness will depend on how honest the forest officials are in each stage of the survey.
- The state survey ought to be conducted annually rather than every four years as it is in the case of AITE.
Source The Hindu
3 – Reducing Tiger Population in Nilgiris: GS III – Environmental Conservation
Why in news:
- Since mid-August, ten tigers—six cubs and four adults—have perished in the Nilgiris.
What causes the deaths to occur?
- A theory that has been proposed suggests that the high concentration of tigers in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve’s Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarhole complex is forcing populations into neighbouring habitats in the Nilgiris and Gudalur forest divisions, as well as Mukurthi National Park.
- This causes animals to compete more with one another and to fight more, which increases the number of animal deaths.
- In the foreseeable future, more unfavourable encounters between humans and animals may result from this population growth.
- They highlight the necessity of restoring damaged ecosystems so that tigers’ prey, including Indian gaurs, spotted deer, and Sambar, can repopulate them.
What is carried out:
- The forest department intends to establish anti-poaching camps in order to dispel concerns that poachers might be focusing on tigers.
- Additionally, yearly tiger population monitoring in the Nilgiris Forest Division is planned, with data on population size, individual animal range, and other criteria to be collected for improved management.
- They have also increased the amount of time spent walking around important tiger habitats.
- About the Biosphere Reserve of Nilgiri
- The first biosphere reserve in India was the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which was created in 1986.
- Two of India’s ten biogeographical provinces are included in it, and it is situated in the Western Ghats.
- The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve contributes to the highest biodiversity because it has large, untouched expanses of natural vegetation, from dry scrub to evergreen forests and marshes.
- Parts of Tamilnadu, Kerala, and Karnataka are included in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
Source The Hindu
4 – Lancet Commission Report on gender disparities in cancer care: GS II – Health related issues
Why it’s news:
- A new study by the Lancet Commission titled “Women, Power and Cancer” examines the disparities between genders in cancer treatment.
Major conclusions of the report:
- Reducing risk factors, screening, and diagnosis could have avoided about 63% of Indian women’s cancer-related early deaths.
- With prompt and effective treatment, 37% of cases may have been avoided.
- In India, 4.03 million cancer-related deaths among women were treatable and 6.9 million were avoidable.
- The study made clear that women still have a high cancer incidence and death rate, despite men being more likely than women to develop diseases that affect both sexes.
- 48% of newly diagnosed cancer cases and 44% of cancer-related deaths worldwide are female.
- This occurs despite the fact that a number of women’s malignancies, including those of the breast and cervical regions, are very curable and preventive.
Why do women’s outcomes tend to be worse?
- According to the survey, women have difficulty getting timely and adequate care because they lack the necessary information, financial resources, and decision-making capacity, as well as because primary care facilities are often farther away from their homes.
- Women are more likely than males to lack the knowledge and authority to make wise judgements, regardless of where they reside or what social class they are in.
- It also mentioned how much more likely it is for them to have a financial meltdown as a result of cancer.
- Women make up the majority of the unpaid workers in the cancer care industry, are underrepresented in leadership roles, and are more likely to experience sexual harassment and discrimination based on their gender.
- According to the report, women’s unpaid cancer caregiving is valued at around 3.66% of India’s total national health spending.
- Cervical and breast cancers are the most frequent cancers in women.
- However, women are reluctant to discuss these issues with male doctors or even to allow a female doctor to examine their genitalia, which causes delays in diagnosis and treatment.
- Treatment delays and worse results are also caused by the necessity to travel to district hospitals, state capitals, or large tertiary institutions in other states for screening, diagnostic testing, and treatment.
How important screening is:
- Breast and cervical cancers are the two most frequent types of cancer in women, yet both are very treatable and preventative.
- Women are diagnosed in the latter stages of the illness, even though screening can detect both malignancies at an early stage.
- If a woman self-examines and finds any lumps, she has to see a doctor right away.
- Women who are between the ages of 25 and 65 should have a pap smear test to screen for precancerous growths on their cervix in order to detect cervical cancer.
- Every five or ten years, a human papillomavirus (HPV) test can be performed to detect the virus that causes most cervical malignancies.
Function of the state:
Raising consciousness:
- Educating people—women in particular—about the need for screening and care is one of the most crucial initiatives that was required.
- People flocked to obtain the Covid-19 vaccine in significant numbers when the government launched an awareness campaign to inform people that the vaccine can prevent deaths due to the infection.
- The prevention of cancer requires the same.
Immunisation schedules:
- The government’s planned HPV vaccination scheme should lower the frequency of the common malignancy among women.
- The nation already has access to the HPV vaccination that causes cervical cancer, and an indigenous vaccine has already been created.
- The vaccine is being considered for inclusion in the universal immunisation plan for young girls by the government.
- Women under the age of 25 must have the vaccination prior to engaging in sexual behaviour.
- It stops the virus from getting inside the body.
Programming for screening:
- Early diagnosis can also be aided by the government’s screening initiative at the level of primary health clinics and sub-centers.
- One of the problems is that once they have to go to more advanced institutions for a biopsy and therapy, the patients are lost for follow-up.
- However, as is the case in Bangladesh, nursing staff at primary health centres can treat cervical cancer, at the very least.
Path ahead:
- Gender and socioeconomic demographic data must be routinely gathered for cancer health statistics.
- Laws and regulations that limit exposure to known cancer hazards must be created, strengthened, and enforced.
- Because men predominate in cancer treatment and research and choose what is funded, prioritised, and investigated, it is necessary to provide women with equal access to resources, leadership, and financing opportunities in the field of cancer research.
Source The Hindu
5 – Yudh Abhyas Exercise 2023: GS III – Internal Security
Why it’s news:
- Fort Wainwright, Alaska, USA will host the 19th iteration of “EXERCISE YUDH ABHYAS.”
About:
- Every year, the Indian Army and the US Army collaborate on this exercise.
- The Exercise’s previous iteration took place in Auli, Uttarakhand, India in 2022.
- India’s Uttar Pradesh hosted the inaugural Yudh Abhyas Exercise in 2002.
Source The Hindu
