Birthdays are exciting for everyone. There's celebration, a cake, and balloons. But what if it goes wrong? This is what happened with Giang Pham, from Vietnam, who was celebrating her 33rd birthday on February 14, when a hydrogen balloon in her hand touched the flame from the candle on the cake and exploded on her face.

This incident was also captured on camera. The footage clearly shows how the balloon blew up as soon as it touched the flame. Her friends were shocked and can be heard gasping in the background as they saw this.

In the days following the incident, she also shared photos on her Instagram showing her bandaged face, and revealed the first-degree burns on her hand and second-degree burns on her face. However, the good news was that her vision was unaffected, though for her face to recover, it would take months.

She is now also warning others about the risks of using highly inflammable hydrogen balloons. The other alternative could be a helium balloon, which you could fly higher and they remain on the ceiling.

Health Update

She revealed that her doctor estimated up to six months for her skin to recover. She would still have to go to the hospital for dressing and treatment. Another such case happened with a woman named Tine from Australia, when on her son's 7th birthday, the balloon exploded and "shook her house". Her son was burned in the forearm.

Such incidents happen because decorators want to save the cost by replacing helium with hydrogen, which is highly inflammable.

In Healing

Giang shared that she experienced second-degree burn on her face and first-degree burn on her hands. As per John Hopkins Medicine, first degree burns affect only the epidermis, or the outer layer of skin. The burn site becomes red, painful, dry, however, there are no blisters. A mild sunburn could be an example of such a burn. This is also called superficial burns.

Whereas, second degree burns involve the epidermis and part of the dermis layer of the skin. The burn site appears red, blistered and could also be swollen and painful. This is also known as partial thickness burn.

Then comes the third degree burns, also known as full thickness burn. This destroys the epidermis and dermis and could also damage the underlying bones, muscles, and tendons. However, when the bones and muscles are burned, it could be referred to as a fourth degree burn. The burn sit appears white or charred and there is no feeling in the area since the nerve endings are destroyed.

How burns are treated?

The right way to treat a burn depends on its depth and how much of the body it covers. While minor, superficial burns can be managed at home, deeper or larger burns may need medical attention. Keep these essential guidelines in mind:

Do:

• Remove the source of the burn immediately – For example, take off clothing soaked in hot liquid to prevent further damage.
• Run cool water over the burn – This helps soothe the skin, except in cases of certain chemical burns.
• Keep the burn clean and protected – Cover it with a clean, non-stick bandage when possible.
• Seek medical help – If the burn is deeper than a superficial layer, larger than your hand, or full-thickness, see a doctor.

Don’t:

• Use home remedies like bleach or butter – These can make the burn worse.
• Apply ointments or creams on deep burns – They can trap heat and worsen the injury.
• Put ice on the burn – It can cause more damage to the skin.
• Pop blisters – This increases the risk of infection.

Knowing these simple steps can make a big difference in burn care and healing.

India has successfully linked the health records of more than 100 crore people with Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.

Implemented by the National Health Authority, the milestone marks a major step towards building an integrated, citizen-centric, and interoperable digital healthcare ecosystem in the country.

“The linking of over 100 crore health records with ABHA is an important milestone in the journey of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. ABHA-linked health records empower citizens with secure and consent-based access to their health information and support continuity of care across the healthcare ecosystem,” said Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, NHA.

The Growing Adoption Of ABDM

According to the Ministry, more than 450 public and private health technology solutions have integrated with the ABDM ecosystem, enabling digitisation and seamless exchange of health records across healthcare facilities.

The ministry said ABDM doubled the number of linked health records from 50 crore in February 2025 to over 100 crore in just 15 months.

Nearly 10 crore health records are now being linked every two to three months. From fewer than 1,000 linked records during its initial phase to over 100 crore today, ABDM has evolved into one of the world’s largest digital health ecosystems.

Uttar Pradesh emerged as the leading contributor with over 15.03 crore ABHA-linked health records, followed by Andhra Pradesh with over 11.95 crore linked records.

Bihar, Rajasthan, and Gujarat also recorded major progress by linking over 7.37 crore, 6.32 crore, and 4.77 crore health records, respectively.

Also read: Preeclampsia Is Preventable & Treatable. Yet It’s India’s 3rd Leading Cause Of Maternal Deaths, Says AIIMS doctor

Programs Contributing To The Milestone

Among the major government programs and digital platforms contributing to the milestone are:

• Non-Communicable Disease Program
• CoWIN
• Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
• Uttar Pradesh government’s eKavach platform
• Andhra Pradesh health programs
• Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) program
• eHospital by National Informatics Centre
• eSushrut by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
• Gujarat government’s TeCHO platform
• Rajasthan government’s iHMS platform

Private health technology partners and ABDM-enabled digital solutions have also contributed significantly towards the creation and linkage of ABHA-linked health records.

What Is ABHA?

ABHA is a unique digital health identity that allows citizens to securely link and access their health records across hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and healthcare providers.

Through ABDM’s consent-based health information exchange mechanism, citizens can digitally share their medical records with registered healthcare providers while maintaining the privacy and security of personal health information.

“ABDM is designed to place citizens at the center of the digital health ecosystem. With consent-based sharing of health records, individuals can access their medical information whenever required and share relevant records with healthcare providers digitally. This will help make healthcare delivery more accessible, efficient, and patient-centric,” Barnwal said.

Key Digital Building Blocks Of ABDM

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is creating the digital public infrastructure required for an interoperable healthcare ecosystem through key digital building blocks such as:

• Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA)
• Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
• Health Facility Registry (HFR)
• Health Information Exchange and Consent Manager (HIE-CM)
• Unified Health Interface (UHI)
• National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX)

With over 100 crore health records now linked with ABHA, ABDM has marked another milestone towards creating longitudinal digital health records for citizens and enabling a more connected, paperless, efficient, and patient-centric healthcare ecosystem in the country.

Amid the rising cases of Ebola virus infection in nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan, the whole world has gone to an alert mode. The state government of Kerala has declared that it will keep the visitors from the countries flagged by the World Health Organization (WHO) under mandatory health surveillance for up to 21 days after arrival.

The government of India has already issued an advisory on this important issue. In accordance with the direction, the state government of Kerala has also taken some strict steps to protect the general public from this infectious virus. On Thursday, at the meeting of the State Rapid Response Team, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said the measure was being adopted as an additional precaution.

The Union Health Ministry has also propagated a stricter stance on preventing the virus outbreak in the country. The ministry emphasizes its stance by issuing orders to strictly follow the special health guidelines.

As per the new norms, the travelers from Ebola-affected nations are asked to report to the health authorities at the airport if they feel symptoms commonly associated with Ebola, like fever, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain, sore throat, or bleeding. Those who had any contact with confirmed or suspected Ebola patients have also been informed by the health authorities.

The state government has made screening of passengers stricter in the international airports and seaports.

In addition to that, the authorities have also searched isolation wards and intensive care facilities throughout the state to find those who require treatment or observation.

The health minister of the state ordered ample training of healthcare personnel in infection prevention and control. There is also emphasis on the use of PPE kits, proper treatment protocols, and critical care management.

What is Ebola?

Ebola is a severe and, in most cases, deadly disease caused by viruses predominantly found in Africa. The spread of the disease happens through contact with infected body fluids.

Some symptoms can indicate a possible infection. This includes fever, weakness, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, and unexplained bleeding. This eventually leads to severe complications like bleeding, organ failure, and death. The hosts of the virus are animals like bats, primates, and antelopes.

WHO Says Vaccine Could Take Months

Meanwhile, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Chief said he was “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic”. He noted that the numbers are expected to rise given the time taken to detect the virus.

The WHO says it could take up to nine months before a vaccine against this particular species of Ebola is ready.

Two possible "candidate vaccines" against the Bundibugyo species are being developed, but neither has gone through clinical trials yet, WHO advisor Dr. Vasee Moorthy said, according to the BBC.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Tedros said 51 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo — where the first case was reported — and two in neighboring Uganda.

Mental disorders are on the rise worldwide, and nearly 1.2 billion lives are now affected by them. A recent study published in The Lancet has revealed this very crucial trend. The study was conducted by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in collaboration with the University of Queensland.

This study shows that the number of people affected by the mental disorder has almost doubled since 1990. It also emphasizes the role of mental disorder in the case of disability, as the research suggests that it has crossed cardiovascular disease, cancer, and musculoskeletal conditions, leading to disability. Notably, the study has revealed that mental disorders affect people of different sexes and ages disproportionately.

The research was done on a massive scale from 1990 to 2023. The researchers studied the impact of mental disorder on both sexes, in 25 age groups, 21 regions, and 204 countries and territories.

How Mental Disorders Are Impacting Life Worldwide?

Over the years, mental disorders have caused more and more mayhem in people's lives. Disability adjusted life years (DALYs) show the very impact of mental disorders on life. DALYs measure the health loss. It calculates the years lived with disability and years of life lost due to premature death.

According to this very measuring system, we can see that the mental disorder and its impact on overall life reached another zenith in 2023. That year, mental disorders alone caused 171 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs). This made mental disorder the fifth biggest contributor to total disease burden. Notably, in 2023, mental disorders had a 17 percent share of total life lost due to disability throughout the world.

Who Is More Impacted By Mental Disorders?

The mental disorder affects people of both sexes at all stages of life, but the impact can differ massively with age.

• Early childhood can also be filled with different mental disorders, as this age group mainly faces problems like autism spectrum disorder, conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and idiopathic developmental intellectual disability. Notably, at this stage, the boys are more affected by the disease burden compared to girls. These conditions can cause more trouble in adolescence.

• The most impacted age group is 15 to 19 years old. This developmental stage of life faces the worst hit of mental burden, which impacts their future life and career immensely.

• Another crucial finding was that in the year 2023, the number of women impacted by mental disorders exceeded that of men by a large margin. The research shows that 620 million women were living with any kind of mental disorder, while the number of men with the same burden stayed at the 552 million mark. DALYs also shows a similar result, where women lost 92.6 million while men lost 78.6 million.