Digital Health key to Maldives reducing premature chronic diseases deaths

0 Comments read Health & Science
Abdulla Ahmed, Principal of Faafu Atoll Education Centre in Nilandhoo, Maldives, with some of the students participating in a pilot programme that has improved NCD awareness, screening, prevention and healthy-lifestyle practices. Photo Credit: © Courtesy Abdulla Ahmed

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.09.2026 (SciDev.Net): The Maldives has become the only country in South East Asia to meet the UN target for reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

Globally, NCDs account for roughly 74 per cent of all deaths, with millions of people dying prematurely before 70 years of age. Over 80 per cent of these premature deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries.

Strengthening digital connectivity and health workforce capacity, and investing in preventive health, has been central to the Maldives’ achievement, according to public health experts who say the approach could help other small island developing states (SIDS) curb the growing disease burden.

Continue reading →

Sustained care critical for Gaza’s child amputees

0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science
Mohammed Akram Abu Aker longs for a functional prosthesis that will allow him to run and play football without crutches. Photo Credit: ©Courtesy of Mohammed’s parents.

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 10.06.2026 (SciDev.Net): Thousands of children in Gaza, who have undergone amputations during the war, need their prostheses modified, repaired or replaced every six to 12 months or sooner, as they grow. But with healthcare services severely strained and rehabilitation resources scarce to non-existent, specialists and aid organisations warn that young amputees face an uncertain future without sustained access to the care they need.

Eight-year-old Mohammed Akram Abu Aker’s right leg was severed in June 2025 by shrapnel from an artillery shell, just as he and his family were attempting to flee following an Israeli airstrike on a neighbour’s house in Gaza. The shrapnel penetrated multiple parts of his body, causing extensive wounds.

About 10,000 children have sustained life-changing injuries in Gaza since October 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). One in five out of more than 5,000, who have undergone limb amputations, is a child.

Continue reading →

Fontainhas – a unique living heritage

0 Comments read Environment & Development, Travel
The Saint Sebastian chapel in Fontainhas, Goa, which has been the epicenter of community gatherings and functions. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Fontainhas, the Latin Quarter of Panaji (Goa), is a unique living heritage. During my sojourn in this charming neighbourhood, I meet members of ancestral Goan families, who take pride in preserving their heritage and care for their traditional homes. Through the voices of its residents, beginning with Jack Sukhija, Partner at WelcomHeritage Panjim Inn, I trace the past of this distinctive cultural enclave, widely regarded as unlike any other in India, and examine what is needed to conserve it for the future.

Jack Sukhija, partner at WelcomHeritage Panjim Inn in Fontainhas, recalls growing up in Goa in a tight knit community with plenty of green open spaces, and uncrowded streets and beaches.

“It was an idyllic childhood. Everyone knew each other, which sometimes had its downsides”, quips Sukhija, who hails from a business family. At 19, he stepped up to help his father put one of the small businesses, that had gone bankrupt, back on the rails. This encouraged him to join the family in running the heritage hotel business.

Continue reading →