The case of Aruna Shaunbag, the nurse who lay in a vegetative state in a Mumbai hospital between 1973 and 2015, had thrown up many questions to the medical and legal communities as well as society as a whole. In 2011, the Supreme Court had made a landmark judement widely appreciated for its nuanced handling of this complex issue. It provided clear guidelines on the following questions: When can a person be declared brain dead or a persistent vegetative state? What are the rights of this person? What are the responsibilities of the care providers?

The Union Government has now formed a Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court which is examining a draft bill proposed by the Law ministry. It is developing a legislative framework to answer whether patients who are terminally ill and beyond the scope of medical revival can be allowed to die with dignity. It is also examining whether living wills could be allowed. Living wills are authorizations made by persons in a healthy state saying they need not be put on life support systems in the event of their going into a persistent vegetative state or terminal illness.

The experts have not agreed on active euthanasia because of the obvious possibilities of misuse. But it supports passive euthanasia or withdrawal of life support subject to safe guards and fair procedure. (The Hindu 2 February 2016)

The WHO has called upon governments to rate movies based on their inclusion of scenes portraying smoking. It is quite clear that after the tight restrictions on advertisements, movies now remain one of the few widespread mechanisms by which children and teenagers are lured into smoking. In the United States, studies have shown that 37% of new adolescent smokers have been influenced due to cinema. In 2014, 44% of all Hollywood movies and 36% of movies rated for children portrayed smoking. The US Surgeon general declared that adult rating of films with smoking scenes would reduce adolescent smokers by one-fifth and prevent one million tobacco-related deaths in children and teenagers. The WHO smoke-free movie report has also recommended that movies with tobacco imagery may be made exempt from public subsidies.

(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/protect-children-from-tobacco/en/)

Bharat Biotech has created history of sorts by becoming the first company to file a global patent for two candidate vaccines against the Zika virus. Eighteen months ago, a group of researchers from Bharat Biotech started work to develop a traveler’s vaccine against three mosquito borne viruses – Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis and Zika. In July 2015, they had developed two vaccines against the Zika virus – a recombinant vaccine and an inactivated vaccine. The ‘Zikavac’ is ready for preclinical trials as is their Chikungunya vaccine. It is expected that women will be the first beneficiaries of a successful Zika vaccine, followed by adults because of the purported risk of Gullain Barre Syndrome in adults due to the Zika virus. (The Hindu 4 February 2016).