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Bangalore-based Rashmi Vasudeva's journalism has appeared in many Indian and international publications over the past decade. A features writer with over nine years of experience heading a health and fitness supplement in a mainstream Indian newspaper, her niche areas include health, wellness, fitness, food, nutrition and Indian classical Arts.
Her articles have appeared in various publications including Mint-Wall Street Journal, The Hindu, Deccan Herald (mainstream South Indian newspaper), Smart Life (Health magazine from the Malayala Manorama Group of publications), YourStory (India's media technology platform for entrepreneurs), Avantika (a noir arts and theatre magazine), ZDF (a German public broadcasting company) and others.
In 2006, she was awarded the British Print-Chevening scholarship to pursue a short-term course in new-age journalism at the University of Westminster, U.K. With a double Masters in Globalisation and Media Studies from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark), University of Amsterdam and Swansea University in Wales, U.K., she has also dabbled in academics, travel writing and socio-cultural studies. Mother to a frisky toddler, she hums 'wheels on the bus' while working and keeps a beady eye on the aforementioned toddler's antics.
Belling The Tropical Cat: Why The World Is Not Curing Curable Diseases
This is a curious tale if ever there was one; on second thought, not so curious, considering how twisted the world of medical cures can be.
Nearly 1.5 billion people on this planet suffer from ‘neglected’ tropical diseases – sicknesses that do not kill but cause immense suffering, including blindness and disability. These are infectious diseases, mostly prevalent in tropical regions, and contracted by poor healthcare and lack of medical resources. Of these, 13 have been universally recognised as ‘neglected tropical diseases’. These include ailments such as River Blindness, Guinea Worm, Roundworm, Hookworm and others.
What's so curious about this, you may ask. It is this: A large majority of these diseases have effective, safe and inexpensive cures. But as the author poignantly says, “the world has failed to cure the curable.”
Soil-transmitted worms affect over a billion people – they infect the intestines and can cause severe nutrient deficiencies, retarded growth in children and increased mortality in pregnant women.
Now consider these figures: These kinds of worms can be sent packing with a single pill that costs “only one penny”. Worse, infection is easily preventable with sanitation awareness.
The author's regret is palpable – she says that at less than 50 cents per person, it would be possible for the United States to cure millions of these “unnecessary” diseases. But neither does the US think it necessary to allot enough funds to treat tropical diseases around the world, nor does the world seem concerned about this heavy “infectious disease burden.”
Experts estimate that by controlling the spread of these diseases in sub-Saharan Africa alone, the world could save $52 billion. In other words, for every dollar spent on tackling tropical diseases, we can get back $50 in terms of increased economic growth.
That may well be the case but it begs the question; who will bell this particular cat?
