Over the years, one topic has surfaced again and again—in conversations with patients, around family dinner tables, at community events, and more recently in my direct messages: food, gut health,...
As both a doctor and a mother, I often find myself looking at adolescence through two very different lenses. One comes from years of clinical experience. The other comes...
Every day, millions of people search the internet for answers about their health — and every day, they're met with conflicting information, sponsored content, and advice nobody can verify. AI...
I am often asked what "First Check" means. And I get it; it sounds self-explanatory enough. But first check... what, exactly? And how did that even become a name? ...
When we started First Check back in 2019, misinformation was already something we were worried about. But today, it feels very different. Information doesn’t just reach us anymore; it rushes...
Vaccination remains one of the most effective scientific tools for preventing disease and saving lives. Since the launch of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 1974, and its evolution into India’s Universal...
The journey of First Check is rooted in a strong belief in the power of credible and timely information. In public health, access to accurate, evidence-based information is essential...
The journey of First Check has always been rooted in a single, unwavering pursuit: the power of credible information. After a transformative 2025, marked by our content partnership with...
Happy New Year to all our First Check readers!!! The last year was all about growth, collaborations, and innovations for First Check. From the continued content sharing partnership...
A couple of days back, my mother walked up to me and said she wanted to share something very important, but I was not to repeat it to anyone else....
I am sorry papa. Main is saal bhi nahi kar paaya (I couldn't do it this time either). A young adult preparing for the Indian national medical entrance exam said this in...
Acne. Facial hair. Weight gain. Irregular periods. Infertility. These are the struggles of many women of menstruating age across the world. Many of them have a condition called Polycystic Ovarian...
Earlier this month, the Union Health Minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda, highlighted how India had achieved a milestone that we can all truly be proud of. “Due to the unwavering dedication...
Hello, When I was pregnant with my first child a couple of years ago, I thought I had done everything I could do to prepare myself for this beautiful journey....
Hello, Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is now quickly transforming our approach to most industries—from media to communications, and from healthcare to transportation. Words like ChatGPT, prompting, and Generative AI have...
Hello! One often wonders what is the point of a health literacy training. Can we really change attitudes towards health and health information by a few training sessions? Can we...
154 million lives in 50 years. 6 lives. Every minute. Every day. For 5 decades. That is the number of lives saved by vaccines, according to the World Health Organization...
Hello! As promised in the previous newsletter, the month of March was dedicated to Women's Health at First Check, where we focused on women centric stories. However, while we had...
“Communities and countries and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.” -Michelle Obama Welcome to another newsletter from First Check- your one-stop shop for...
Hello! We have some great news for our readers; you can now read selected stories by First Check on THE WEEK as well! THE WEEK, published by the 137-year-old Malayala...
Hello! 👋 Welcome to another First Check newsletter! We hope you had a happy, bright and healthy Diwali! 🪔🎉 While you were busy with the festival season, we have also...
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, goes the adage. But for how long? Sooner or later, we all have to make that visit to the doc. Some do...
In 1992, I was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes. I was just a child and had no idea what it meant! I soon realised that the autoimmune condition where the body...
As the results of the world’s largest democratic elections unfolded yesterday, four words echoed everywhere. Those who supported the victors, those who sympathised with the other contenders, just about everyone...
It is equally fascinating and terrifying that for the millions of years humans have spent trying to unwrap the secrets of this world, there are still just as many, if...
“If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” The quote is attributed to Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer, and I couldn’t...
Today, there is an abundance of information available online. But there is also a significant amount of misinformation. It has become vital to separate fact from fiction. The rise of...
Not too long ago, I was a social media junkie. Guilty of falling for every health tip and trick on online platforms. Whether it was ways to get flawless skin...
The tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting it, in a manner that is consistent with our existing beliefs is very common. And this is amply evident when...
As a social and behavioural scientist, I have been intricately involved in the battle against health misinformation. In the digital age, where information spreads rapidly and often unchecked, the epidemic...
How do you like your coffee? With butter? And some oil? Apparently, bulletproof coffee is what the celebs are having – instead of breakfast – to shed some superfluous body...
Happy New Year! How time flies! It’s 2024 already. I remember the day in January 2020, when for the first time I raised my voice against an inaccurate post on...
As one of the early members of First Check, I became concerned about the impacts of the work of fact-checking on mental health. I undertook a survey during COVID and...
I come bearing exciting news: First Check has a new website! And we would love to get your feedback and suggestions. Tell us what you like, what you don’t. What do...
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by science and the way it explains the functioning of the human body. During my high school days, I...
Have you heard the popular folktale about Akbar and Birbal, the Mughal emperor and his ingenious advisor, that beautifully captures the human tendency to give (often useless, sometimes harmful) health-related...
Have you heard of the condition where people find it hard to meet and interact with new people? It’s not about being shy or an introvert; the condition is called...
As a journalist and radio broadcaster, fact-checking has become an integral part of my work. We need to check, verify, and counter-check facts, before using them in storytelling. My fact-checking...
Today is International Fact-Checking Day, promoted by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in partnership with fact-checking organisations around the world. As a verified signatory of IFCN, First Check has been...
During the early days of the pandemic, I had immigrated to Canada and was keen to contribute my skills as a humanitarian public health scientist with global experience, in a...
Once a victim of health misinformation, I know from my own experience that it can lead to grave mistrust and negatively impact public health. Even before the pandemic, health misinformation...
Happy New Year! As we enter 2023, the battle against misinformation has to get stronger. In today’s era of digitalisation, information spreads at the speed of light, and misinformation spreads...
Almost three years ago, Bangladesh, like most countries, experienced a nightmare when the coronavirus infection turned into a pandemic. The deaths and infection rates were galloping at an unprecedented pace....
Like most people of my generation, I too have a fairly significant online presence. However, until recently I had no idea of the massive scaling effect of social media and...
I was introduced to the world of fact-checking after working in the public health sector for more than eight years. Although health promotion was one of my fields of expertise,...
It was late January, 2020. Amidst the catastrophic COVID-19 crisis in China, I landed in Delhi. Soon, I met Syed Nazakat (the founder and CEO of DataLEADS) and a conversation over...
Health misinformation, I strongly believe, must be treated like a disease because it behaves like one. My experience during the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria in 2014 fuels my passion for...
“We’re not just fighting an epidemic, we’re fighting an infodemic. Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this virus (COVID-19) and is just as dangerous.” - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,...
As a member of First Check, I feel like a warrior, fighting the infodemic. The pandemic showed us how people contracted,spread, or even succumbed to COVID-19 because they fell for...
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” - Ludwig WittgensteinBefore joining First Check, I was an independent fact-checker with a personal page on Facebook. When I...
“We now live in a world where information is potentially unlimited. When information is cheap, meaning turns expensive.” - George Dyson I believe that every physician is inherently a fact-checker,...