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The West Bengal government in collaboration with UNICEF will form child-friendly sanghas' (clusters), comprising members of self-help groups, to curb child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the state, which is the highest in the country. To stop these twin menaces, the state government and UNICEF have planned, as a pilot project, to form 110 child-friendly sanghas' in the next six months in 87 blocks in all 23 districts of the state, a UNICEF release said here. "This initiative is aimed at addressing the issues that affect the lives of SHG members and their family members," Vibhu Goel, State Mission Director and CEO of West Bengal State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM), said at the end of a validation workshop held here on Friday. West Bengal is at the top in cases of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, according to a National Family Health Survey report. As per the data available, after the National Family Health Survey-5 was conducted in 2019-20, a total 41.6 per cent of women a
Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs will pay nearly USD 440 million to settle a two-year investigation by 33 states into the marketing of its high-nicotine vaping products, which have long been blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the deal Tuesday on behalf of the states plus Puerto Rico, which joined together in 2020 to probe Juul's early promotions and claims about the safety and benefits of its technology as a smoking alternative. The settlement resolves one of the biggest legal threats facing the beleaguered company, which still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. Additionally, Juul faces hundreds of personal suits brought on behalf of teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company's vaping products. The state investigation found that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes to underage teens with launch parties, product giveaways and ads and social media posts using youthful models, accordi
Vaccination of children in the 15-18 age group against COVID-19 began on Monday as inoculation centres across the country started administering the shots to the younger population. The process to vaccinate children has commenced amid a scare of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. In Delhi, where daily cases have registered a record surge in the last few days, vaccination centres at Fortis hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and other facilities began administering the jabs to younger population, officials said. The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on December 27. The Drugs Controller General of India granted emergency use authorisation to indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years with certain conditions on December 24. The CoWIN platform had till Sunday evening recorded over six lakh registrations in the age group of 15-18. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviy