EASTER wRAP || New Life, New Beginnings?

The (w)Rap returned after a gap of three weeks.

Hopefully, this is the last of such long missing streaks.

Though it may possibly slip a week on occasion,

That will happen if it is an unavoidable situation.

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This restart comes at a rather opportune time.

Easter just ended, and the church bells chime.

Millions in India celebrate the birth of their greatest king.

Hoping that the glory of his rule is again in the making.

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Right now, a new accounting year begins, bright with hope.

Many believe the path ahead seems to have a gentler slope.

Straddling the end of the last year, and the start of the next,

Let’s close out the past, and provide a guide to the perplexed.

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A Short Blast from the Recent Past…

TB, that forgotten scourge, is back in the news again.

People ignore directions to complete the drug regimen.

India may be unable to eliminate TB by the 2025 deadline,

Drug resistance (MDR) is disrupting the treatment timeline.

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The search continues to find a new and more effective treatment.

The extension of an existing drug’s patent was denied by the government.

Meanwhile, AI technology detects TB in even those who are asymptomatic!

Will reducing current existing levels, however, continue to be problematic?

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Remember Remdesivir being touted as the wonder drug for Covid?

It possibly affects your heart, says a study that may make you livid.

Current gears, of course, are focused on a mix of respiratory infections;

Drug sales went up like a rocket, as people made fearful connections.

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The specter of Covid’s return is always on the radar of health authorities.

Even if it appears well past us, it remains high on their list of priorities.

Instructions have been given where cases have spiked in several states.

The strategy advised is fairly straightforward: test, track, treat and vaccinate.

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Other News, Other views….

Speaking of drugs, advocacy against e-pharmacies is becoming quite strident.

Questions are raised about quality and safety, and not being legally compliant.

But technology-based start-ups continue to attract and excite wide attention.

From investors to device makers looking for innovative forms of intervention.

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Companies like to talk about patient-centricity and patients' voices.

Some patients are also making some interesting and unusual choices.

As regulators in India are encouraging biopharma as a key R&D area,

In other countries, even newer research is creating some euphoria.

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Similar regulatory approval is being advocated for clinical trials too.

A steep drop in clinical trials – by over 40% – prompted a serious review

That works for rare diseases, but for others, regulation can be easily won.

Many therapies for old age diseases, however, still have a hard road to run.

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A Week of Frictions, and a Few Contradictions…

The Right to Health Bill, which many may consider perfectly natural

Is now a bitter fight, with damage to patients as unnecessary collateral!

In a strange twist of circumstances over the source of a cancer epidemic,

A government agency is hiring another whose expertise is mostly academic.

Then there are disagreements with global agencies of the right way of counting,

The argument is about the level of trust, and not really about the accounting.

The government disputed the suggestion that Covid fatalities were understated.

It took great pride that its response to the pandemic – globally – was very highly rated.

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The government considers medicinal safety and quality issues as quite serious.

They want the process to fair and transparent, not complicated and mysterious.

Swift action sends the clearest message, and in no uncertain terms.

The rules will be applied strictly, and compliance applies to all firms.

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Remember the inflationary spiral in drug prices? It may not have ended.

In the new financial year hikes in price-controlled drugs couldn’t be suspended.?

But even outside price control, the demand for some medicines has rapidly risen.

Some of it is for conditions that emerged, as if they were released from prison.

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There was a time when being fat was the result of bad eating habits.

Now, it’s a disease that resides in the obese people that it inhabits.

There’s a move to add obesity medicines to the list of ‘essential drugs’.

May not be long before brand names begin to appear on coffee mugs.

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Some paradoxes are delicious, others not so much.

It depends on whom they apply to or to the lives they touch.

One Covid-19 vaccine maker is fortifying research support.

Another vaccine innovator is making its way to the bankruptcy court.

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Paradox and illusion surround some like a halo, almost a crown.

No seeming setback or controversy ever seems to get them down.

From electric cars to space exploration to neurosurgery solutions.

They try everything, even fail, but are only admired for gumption.

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They push at the borders of scientific ethics on the one hand,

And on the other, for a widely accepted idea, take a quixotic stand.

The nature of genius, perhaps, is that ordinary yardsticks don’t apply.

But shouldn’t they? When the effects of what they do affects you or I?

End Note…

New beginnings deserve something interesting don’t you think?

A laugh, a surprise, perhaps a little shock that makes you blink.

Now that we’ve caught up on two of the three missed weeks,

Next week will complete the third. But here are a few tweaks.

The first change is going -to be in the timing and here is how.

It will now be the Wrap On Wednesday, and still, be WOW!

Too much reading every Monday can make your eyes rather sore.

It’s supposed to be delightful, as in the adage that says ‘less is more’.?

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The second change will be including a (W)Rap about a single theme.

After weeks of morning coffee, you might like a scoop of ice-cream!

What is important, really, is that some issues need in-depth treatment

Something readers might appreciate, and that adds to your enjoyment.

I am open to more suggestions; these shifts are experimental.

You can weigh in on whether they work, or are detrimental.

As always, we met here again, in ten days.

May your doughnuts have the sweetest glaze!