New Delhi, May 31: On the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day, Delhi’s Rohini area witnessed a strong show of public awareness and health advocacy through a walkathon organised to spread the message against tobacco consumption.

The event, themed ‘Walk for Life’, brought together medical professionals, civic leaders, and local residents in a collective stand against the harmful effects of tobacco.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta, who flagged off the walkathon, delivered a powerful message on the dangers of tobacco. “Tobacco is not just an addiction; it’s a poison,” he said, addressing the gathering. “It is a dangerous habit that ruins lives, and the only effective way to combat it is through sustained awareness and education,” he added.

Organised by the Indian Medical Association in collaboration with the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, the event saw enthusiastic participation from doctors, healthcare workers, and members of the public.

The walkathon aimed to raise awareness, especially among the youth, about the health risks associated with tobacco, including its direct link to life-threatening diseases like cancer.

“The younger generation often views smoking and tobacco use as fashionable, but we must help them understand the long-term consequences,” Gupta added, urging collective efforts to curb the rising trend of tobacco use among the youth.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Sudhir Rawal, Medical Director at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, emphasised the medical impact: “Tobacco is one of the main avoidable causes of cancer. If you don’t use tobacco, you significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer, especially lung and mouth cancer.”

The event also featured health-themed activities, including group exercises and educational talks, to create a more engaging and impactful experience for participants.

As part of a broader initiative across the country, the Rohini walkathon served as a crucial reminder of the importance of quitting tobacco and promoting healthier, smoke-free lives.

Mumbai: The State of Maharashtra reported 66 new COVID-19 cases on May 27, with nearly half originating from Mumbai, recording 31 cases in past 24 hours. Other districts saw fewer cases, with Pune reporting 18, Thane at 7, Navi Mumbai at 4, Pimpri Chinchwad at 3, Nagpur at 2, and Sangli at 1. As of May 26, the total active cases in Maharashtra stood at 210, reflecting an addition of 154 new cases since May 19, 2025. Nationwide, India had 1,010 active cases, with Kerala leading at 430.

Reports from the Union Health Ministry indicate that current COVID-19 infections are mostly mild, with no significant severity or death rates. However, a 47-year-old woman from Kalyan tested positive posthumously, representing the fifth COVID-related death in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) within a week.

She was treated for typhoid but deteriorated rapidly, leading to her hospitalization where she died before her COVID-19 diagnosis. KDMC officials noted three other COVID patients, with one recovering and two receiving treatment. In response, KDMC has set up isolation wards and an RTPCR lab, assuring the public that most cases are mild and do not require alarm.

In light of rising COVID-19 cases noted in Singapore and Hong Kong, India has ramped up monitoring efforts. Experts attribute the recent surge to the JN.1 variant, part of the Omicron family. The Health Ministry has stated that they are carefully reviewing the situation to mitigate risks while remaining proactive in safeguarding public health.

Meanwhile, the state’s daily COVID-19 case count rose from 43 on Sunday to 69 on Monday, as reported by the state health department. Out of these cases, 37 were identified in Mumbai, 19 in Thane, and seven in Navi Mumbai, with Pune recording two cases and one case each in Pimpri Chinchwad, Kolhapur, Raigad, and Latur

The recent uptick in COVID-19 cases has been evident over the past few weeks, with May alone accounting for 269 of the 285 cases recorded since January. Additionally, four patients with COVID-19 have died since May 18, which included a 14-year-old girl with kidney issues, a 59-year-old cancer patient, a 70-year-old with heart complications, and a 21-year-old suffering from diabetes-related ketoacidosis.

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New Delhi, May 28: Late diagnoses and high costs are driving cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) — an aggressive form of blood and bone marrow cancer, said health experts.

After the US and China, India reportedly had the highest number of cases of AML in 2021.

According to health experts, early screening, accurate diagnosis and timely initiation of treatment are extremely important to improve survival rates.

“We lose critical time because AML is detected late in our country and often masquerades as fatigue or infection. By the time the right tests are done, the disease has often progressed to a stage where treatment options are limited or less effective,” Dr. Ranjit Sahoo, D.M. (Medical Oncology) Professor (Additional) at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), told Media.

While acute leukaemia can be detected by a simple blood test, “the treatment of AML is carried out at tertiary centres and the cost of supportive treatment is high,” the expert said.

For many patients, the onset is silent, the symptoms of AML are vague, and the window for intervention is tragically narrow.

Many patients also delay treatment due to financial constraints or seek care in late stages when treatment is less effective.

“AML, while rare among all haematological malignancies, is the most feared one. It has an excellent chemotherapy combination for control of disease, including deep remission (control, not cure), but is fraught with complications, including life-threatening ones due to severe infections and bone marrow suppression,” said Dr. Abhay A. Bhave, a haematologist, from a Mumbai-based hospital.

Bhave noted that “AML can be a relapsing, relentless disease based on the genes that cause this disease”.

Traditional chemotherapy, the mainstay of AML treatment, has often been poorly tolerated, especially in older patients. However, the emergence of targeted therapies — which act on specific genetic mutations driving the disease — has dramatically improved remission rates, reduced toxicity, and enhanced quality of life for patients globally.

However, these are often expensive; and bone marrow transplantation is also not easy to obtain, the doctors said.

Dr. Punit L Jain, a leukaemia specialist at a Mumbai-based hospital stated that 60 per cent of AML patients arrive in advanced stages with infection and bleeding, impairing treatment methods.

The experts suggested integrating AML into the national cancer control strategy and expanding access to diagnostics may be necessary to boost awareness as well as treatment outcomes. They also called for including AML-targeted therapies in Ayushman Bharat and private insurance schemes to ease out-of-pocket expenditure for patients; and to support clinical research and trials.