HAVANNA SYNDROME
1. Context
The Central government has told the Karnataka High Court that it will look into the matter of the ‘Havana Syndrome’ in India, in response to a Bengaluru resident’s recent petition
The petitioner had approached the court requesting a writ of mandamus for an enquiry on Havana Syndrome in India and the prevention of high-frequency microwave transmission in India
2. What is Havana Syndrome?
Havana syndrome is a cluster of unexplained medical symptoms that have been reported by U.S. government officials and military personnel, mostly abroad. The symptoms range in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive dysfunction and were first reported in 2016 by U.S. and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba
The first cases were reported in 2016 among U.S. diplomats stationed in Havana, Cuba, which is why it earned its name.
3. Symptoms
The symptoms reported by affected individuals have included a range of neurological issues, such as:
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Hearing loss or ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Cognitive difficulties
- Visual problems
- Fatigue
4. Reports of Havana Syndrome
- Since the Cuban incident, American intelligence and foreign affairs officials posted in various countries have reported symptoms of the syndrome
- In early 2018, similar accusations began to be made by US diplomats in China. The first such report was in April 2018 at the Guangzhou consulate
- An American employee reported that he had been experiencing symptoms since late 2017
- Another incident had previously been reported by a USAID employee at the US Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in September 2017
- In 2019 and 2020, such incidents have been reported from within the US particularly in Washington DC
- In India, the first such case was reported in the same year, when a US intelligence officer travelling to New Delhi with CIA director William Burns reported symptoms of Havana Syndrome
5.Causes of Havana Syndrome
- No one is entirely sure. But initially during the Cuban experience, being in a country that had been hostile to the US for over five decades, the suspicion was on Cuban intelligence or a section within the Cuban establishment that did not want US-Cuba relations to normalise. It was then speculated to be a “sonic attack”
- However, further study by scientists in the US and medical examination of the victims began to suggest that they may have been subjected to high-powered microwaves that either damaged or interfered with the nervous system
- It was said to have built pressure inside the brain that generated the feeling of a sound being heard.
- Greater exposure to high-powered microwaves is said not only to interfere with the body’s sense of balance but also to impact memory and cause permanent brain damage.
- Low levels of microwaves are also emitted from mobile phones but they are not targeted
- It was suspected that beams of high-powered microwaves were sent through a special gadget that Americans then called a “microwave weapon”
- The use of microwaves as a counter-intelligence tactic has been experimented with since the Cold War and both Russia and the US have made attempts to weaponise it
Source: indianexpress
