Duty Exemptions for Rare Disease medicine

• The National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021 lists all the rare diseases that must be treated, and the Central Government has granted complete exemption from basic customs duty on all pharmaceuticals and food imported for personal use.

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• The individual importer must present a certificate from the district's medical officer or civil surgeon, or the central or state director of health services, to be eligible for this exemption.
• The standard customs duty for medicinal products is 10%, although several categories of life-saving medicines and vaccines are subject to a concessionary rate of 5% or NIL.
• Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), which is used to treat some types of cancers, has also been completely exempted from basic customs duties by the government.
• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has authorised the exemption by changing "Drugs or Medicines" to "Drugs, Medicines or Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP)".

What is a Rare Disease

• The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies a condition as a rare disease if it has a prevalence of 1 or less per 1000 people and is a lifelong illness or disorder.
• Hemangiomas, Hirschsprung disease, Gaucher disease, etc., are a few examples of rare disorders.
• Rare diseases include inherited malignancies, autoimmune conditions, congenital abnormalities, Hirschsprung's disease, Gaucher disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophies, and Lysosomal Storage Disorders, according to the Organization for Rare Diseases India (LSDs)

Rare Diseases Policy

• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare's Department of Health Research will serve as the convenor of a National Consortium that will be established as part of the Rare Diseases Policy to put more emphasis on indigenous research and minimise the high cost of treating rare diseases.
• Treatment for uncommon diseases will be less expensive thanks to increased emphasis on research and development and local drug production.
• The policy also calls for the establishment of a national registry of rare diseases, based in hospitals, to provide sufficient information for defining rare diseases and for domestic research and development on rare diseases.
• The Policy also emphasises early screening and prevention through primary and secondary health care infrastructure, including Health and Wellness Centers and District Early Intervention Centers (DEICs), as well as through counselling for the parents of children at high risk.
• Nidan Kendras, which was established by the Department of Biotechnology, will also facilitate screening.
• By designating eight healthcare facilities as Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and providing these CoEs with one-time financial support of up to Rs 5 crores for the upgradation of diagnostics facilities, the policy also aims to strengthen the tertiary healthcare facilities for the prevention and treatment of rare diseases.

Obstacle to handle rare diseases

• In areas where pharmaceuticals are available, they are prohibitively expensive, putting a tremendous strain on resources, and the government has not been able to give these for free.
• Only a few diseases have been labelled as "rare" in India due to the absence of epidemiological data on the prevalence of these conditions.
• The use of ambiguous terminology and inconsistent definitions can lead to misunderstandings and discrepancies, which can have an impact on both research and development and patient access to care.
• Fewer than 5% of patients have access to therapies, but 95% do not have any approved treatments, and less than 1 in 10 patients receive disease-specific care.

National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021

• With the purpose of treating people with rare diseases, the government developed the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), 2021 in March 2021. The following are the key components of the NPRD, 2021:
• Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 are the three categories into which the rare diseases have been divided.
• Category 1: Diseases that can be cured with a single treatment.
• Category 2: Disorders with relatively lower costs and benefits of therapy have been established in the literature and require annual or more frequent surveillance. These diseases require long-term/lifelong treatment.
• Category 3: Conditions for which there is a permanent cure, but choosing the right patient is difficult due to factors including high cost and lifelong treatment.
• There is a provision for patients with any category of rare diseases who choose to receive treatment at any of the Centers of Excellence (CoE) listed in NPRD-2021 outside of the scope of the Rashtriya Arogaya Nidhi umbrella scheme to receive financial assistance of up to Rs. 50 lakhs.
• The patient from the neighbourhood can go to the closest Center of Excellence to get assessed and apply for benefits to receive financial aid for the treatment of a rare disease.
• For the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of uncommon diseases, eight (08) Centres of Excellence (CoEs) have been identified.

For the creation of infrastructure for screening, testing, and treatment, the Centers of Excellence will receive one-time grants totaling a maximum of Rs. 5 crore each.

SALT MARSHES

• According to a study conducted by researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory, more than 90% of the world's salt marshes may be lost to sea level rise by the end of the century.

What are Salt Marshes

• The salt water brought in by the tides floods and drains salt marshes, which are coastal wetlands. They are marshy because the soil may be made up of peat and deep mud.
• Peat is a thick layer of decomposing plant debris. Peat is extremely spongy, wet, and populated with roots.
• Oxygen levels in the peat can be quite low, a situation known as hypoxia because salt marshes are constantly flooded by the tides and contain a lot of plant matter that is degrading.
• The bacterial proliferation that results in hypoxia is what gives marshes and mud flats their characteristic sulphurous, rotten-egg odour.
• The majority of salt marshes are found in moderate to high latitudes. They frequently inhabit estuaries, where they thrive along sheltered shorelines. On every coast of the United States, salt marshes can be found. The Gulf Coast has around half of the country's salt marshes.

Advantage

• These intertidal habitats are crucial for the sustainability of our fisheries, coasts, and communities. They also play a significant role in our way of life and economy. More than 75% of fishery species, including shrimp, blue crab, and numerous finfish, depend on them for food, shelter, or nascent habitat.
• The wetland is a region of land that has either been completely or heavily flooded by water.
• Groundwater that has seeped up from an aquifer or spring is frequently present.
• Water for a wetland might also come from a lake or river close by.
• Moreover, seawater can generate wetlands, particularly in locations with strong tides that are coastal.
• Wetlands are defined as "areas of marsh, fen, peat land, whether natural or manmade, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish, or salt, including areas of seawater the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres."
• These are the zones where terrestrial (on land) and aquatic (on water) zones meet. dampen the effects of wave action and catch sediments, salt marshes also help to prevent shorelines from eroding. By delaying and absorbing rainwater, they prevent flooding and maintain water quality by filtering runoff and metabolising excess nutrients.

About Wetland Ecosystem

• A wetland is a region of land that has either been completely or heavily flooded by water.
• Groundwater that has seeped up from an aquifer or spring is frequently present.
• Water for a wetland might also come from a lake or river close by.
• Moreover, seawater can generate wetlands, particularly in locations with strong tides that are coastal. Wetlands are defined as "areas of marsh, fen, peat land, whether natural or manmade, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish, or salt, including areas of seawater the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres."
• These are the zones where terrestrial (on land) and aquatic (on water) zones meet.

Significance of Wetland

• All ecosystem services connected to water are particularly well-provided by wetlands.
• Plants, animals, and wetland agriculture all thrive in wetlands.
• Most waterbirds in the world live in wetlands, which are also important habitats for migratory species.
• One essential food source is wetlands.

Wetlands are highly valuable for recreation, history, science, and culture.

Read More: Conservation of Wetlands

Nuclear Power Plant

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency went to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

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The Largest Nuclear power Plant in Europe is located in Zaporizhzhia, a significant town in Southeast Ukraine.

The distance between it and the nuclear plant is around 40 kilometers.

Six reactors make up the nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia, which generates a total of 5,700 MW of electricity. 15 reactors are housed within the four nuclear power plants in Ukraine. In Ukraine, nuclear energy provides nearly half of the country's energy needs.

As a non-nuclear weapon state, Ukraine is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Its nuclear facilities are all protected by IAEA regulations. This implies that every single piece of nuclear fuel, every kilo of uranium, and every milligram of plutonium must be tracked down and reported.

In March 2022, the factory was attacked by Russian soldiers, who afterwards took control of it.

In order to eliminate any nuclear risk, IAEA has a rotating crew permanently stationed at the site.

The IAEA has been putting a lot of effort into getting a protection zone around the plant, which is quite close to the front lines of the conflict.

In this regard, the recent visit is essential.

International Atomic Energy Agency

The United Nations family had begun in 1957 as the Global "Atoms for Peace" Organisation

It has its main office in Vienna and reports to both the Security Council and the General Assembly of the UN.

Functions

promotes the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear technologies by working with its Member States and numerous international partners.

It has received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for its efforts to create a secure and peaceful society.

It aims to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy while discouraging its use for any military objectives, including the development of nuclear weapons.