Health

Story hook

14 August 2024, 10:14 PM, WHO press briefing, Geneva. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declares Mpox (formerly Monkeypox) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) — the second time in two years. The trigger: a new clade Ib variant tearing through the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya with 18,000+ cases and 600+ deaths. Within hours, Indian airports activate thermal screening for travellers from the affected African states; Karnataka and Kerala issue public advisories. The Mpox declaration is the second PHEIC since COVID-19 (which was declared January 2020, lifted May 2023).

Two months later, on 14 October 2024, the Health Ministry announces India is eliminating Trachoma — the first country in WHO's South-East Asia Region to do so. Trachoma had been the leading cause of preventable blindness in India until the mid-2000s. The same week, India's TB Notification crossed 26.6 lakh cases (CY 2023), a 10% rise — but Mission Indradhanush 5.0 vaccination scaled to 88% saturation.

Health in current affairs is a balance of outbreaks (Nipah, Mpox, H5N1, dengue) and achievements (eliminations, new vaccines, AB-PMJAY expansion).

Why this matters for UPSC

Health yields 1-2 Prelims picks every cycle (disease classifications, vaccine schedules, scheme metrics) and is a recurring GS-II / GS-III Mains anchor (health-system governance, NRHM/NHM, PMJAY, mental health, AMR). Interview boards probe topical outbreaks ("What is your view on the Mpox declaration?"). High-yield: outbreaks (Nipah, Mpox, H5N1), vaccines (COVID, HPV, Cervavac), eliminations (Trachoma, Yaws, maternal-neonatal tetanus, Polio in 2014), AB-PMJAY metrics.