Keyword : Health

Swine flu affecting the young and expert suspects virus mutation

Even as India says that there is no mutation of swine flu virus, an expert has sought deeper investigation on mutation factor as more young Indians are falling prey to the disease. R

HC notice to health minister Nadda in AIIMS case

In an interesting development, Delhi high court has issued a notice to health minister J P Nadda, in a public interest litigation case filed by Centre for public interest and litigation. The CPIL h

Swine flu virus has mutated and become more virulent

Contradicting the claim by health authorities on swine flu virus, two researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have reported that the current strain of the disease’s p

Maharashtra goes for public gyms to promote healthy lifestyle

Maharashtra government has taken some innovative steps in its budget to make health an important issue in daily life Most of the aliments (blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases

Deadline set for Delhi doctors to resume work in stir-hit hospitals

The Delhi government, which got busy with budget session of the assembly on Tuesday, has asked the agitating resident doctors under state-run government hospitals to resume work and set a deadline

Why govt cannot escape dangers of junk food

The government has not learnt anything even after Maggi controversy. It is equipped to do but the will is lacking. The union government has shamelessly admitted today that it has not defined what c

Nitish plays DNA politics while his govt denies health care even for the new-born

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar should study a recent report on his state and rework his priorities for the election promises. Instead of targeting prime minister Narendar Modi for his DNA remark

Poor are getting richer, extreme poverty in world falls below 10%

Due to sustained policy interventions the world may see end of poverty in next 15 years as the number of people in extreme poverty is now less than 10% and this has happened for the first time. The

A sincere attempt to improve the quality of medicine for people around the world

For over two and half years now, I have tried very hard to convince the Indian government to do something about the widespread prevalence of substandard drugs in the country. A recent report puts t

No cure for ailing medical education

India has a gargantuan medical education system, one of the largest in the world. Its 412 medical colleges – public and now increasingly private – produce 52,215 graduate doctors and 25

Fighting filaria, the disease of the poor

When Kointa Swain suffered from a spell of high fever, shivering and loss of appetite for the first time, she was 30-years-old. As the fever ‘attacks’ kept recurring, she visited the di

Governance Now journalist wins TB reporting award

Special correspondent Sonal Matharu’s incisive reportage on how tuberculosis and silicosis are silently killing people in a Jharkhand village (

21 more mohalla clinics to start functioning in Delhi from Thursday

Following the success of Mohalla clinic, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will inaugurate 21 more Aam Aadmi Mohalla clinics on Thursday. The clinics will house an OPD and patients will have acc

India not investing enough in health sector, says WHO

WHO representative to India, Dr Henk Bekedam, on Thursday said that the alarming rise in diabetes in India was related to government’s low investment in healthcare. “Over

Social security should be a rights-based approach: ILO India

In 2014, the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO) set foot in Odisha to guide the state in ensuring and extending basic guarantees of income and health to the poor and

The soothing balm of ayurveda

Susan, 70, had a painful ulcer on the dorsal side of her foot. The ulcer was affecting her everyday routine.  She could barely stand or walk. A resident of Mullurkara panchayat in Thrissur dis

Stories you should not miss on world health day 2016

The World Health Day falling on April 7 every year is a global health awareness day under the sponsorship of World Health Organization (WHO). On this day, we would like you to read eight stories co

Should sugar be taxed to fight diabetes, obesity?

Should sugar be taxed to fight diabetes,

Wrong lifestyle responsible for spike in diabetes cases: JP Nadda

Union minister of health and family welfare, JP Nadda on Thursday said that there is urgent need for the government to focus on the youth and plan a multi-sectoral approach with other departments t

On world health day, Govt announced several e-health initiatives

Stressing on the need to utilise technology for improving health standards of people, union health minister

India over 30 years behind in attaining its sanitation goal: World Bank

Regional communications specialist at the World Bank, Vandana Mehra, on Thursday said that India is 32 years behind schedule in attaining its sanitation goal. “World Bank study shows that the

Needle of Suspicion: Vaccine leaves experts on pins and needles

Every few days one more child dies after receiving the pentavalent vaccine… Yet as these deaths mount, it has been announced that pentavalent vaccine is to be introduced in 3 more states&hel

Need to pose a challenge for the states for sustainable growth: Amitabh Kant

Niti Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant said if Indian government wants sustainable and scalable growth, it needs to challenge the states on real time basis. “If we want development in important sectors

Nearly half the world at risk of malaria: WHO

As the world observes anti-malaria day, the world health organisation said that half of the world’s population - 3.2 billion people - remain at risk of malaria. In 2015, 214 million new cases

Remembering Nepal earthquake: Struggle for health facilities continue

It’s been a year since 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, killing at least 8,000 people, leaving more than 21,000 injured and two million homeless. The neighbouring country, however, figh

Over 14,000 malaria cases in Maharashtra in 2015

Maharashtra state reported 14,209 cases of malaria, including five fatal ones, in the year 2015, but Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation [BMC] says malaria rate is now coming down. Dr

Why Indian women are under-nourished

Girls getting less food than boys was always considered a societal stereotype in India. A study has shown that it is unfortunately true. It has also highlighted a key deficiency in our policy appro

Now on stands: Your drug may be spurious

Indu Gilra, a retired teacher in her seventies living in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad in the national capital region (NCR), would often pop a tablet of Combiflam at the slightest hint of body ache. Since

Drug regulatory structure is not sound: Whistleblower, Dinesh Thakur

Dinesh Thakur, 48, first hit headlines in May 2013, when his campaign against his former employer Ranbaxy’s unsafe practices and lax quality control in its US facilities concluded success

Pause before you pop, it may be spurious

Indu Gilra, a retired teacher in her seventies living in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad in the national capital region (NCR), would often pop a tablet of Combiflam at the slightest hint of body ache. Since

Coming soon: electronic health record of every citizen

Imagine a scenario where a doctor knows all about the patient’s health even before being bombarded with a litany of health woes. In the not too distant future, this is going to happen in Indi

Plenty of plans but little achievement so far

Five years after the government approved a single, unified project to modernise public health system, the project still remains on paper. Under the national e-governance plan (NeGP), the ministry o

In search of affordable medicines for the poor

A high-level panel hosted by India as part of the BRICS group of countries discussed the issues of trade deals that inhibit access to medicines and also limit policy space for governments to legisl

NEET politics

The national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET), a single window examination for entering medical schools for MBBS and BDS courses across the country, was introduced with an aim to remove the has

India loses 1.6% GDP to nicotine addiction

Health ministry is in favour of imposing deterrent taxes on tobacco industry to end the growing nicotine addiction among Indians. Stating this, director general of health Dr Jagdish Prasad,

NHRC seeks report on radiation from mobile phone towers

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the ministries of communications and information technology and ministry of health, calling for a report in the wake of allegations

Health may become a fundamental right

Health, like education, job and information, will become a matter of right soon. A draft policy advocates a National Health Rights Act which will make “denial of health” an offence. It

World Hepatitis Day: Only one in 100 patients gets treatment

 Only one in 20 people with viral hepatitis are aware that they are suffering from the disease. One in 100 suffering people are being treated. On World Hepatitis Day, the World Health Organisa

Catering family planning needs in Jharkhand’s Red Corridor

The gun was placed on my forehead. There were eight to ten men who started enquiring about my whereabouts,” recalls  Balmati Devi, an auxilliary nurse midwife (ANM) of Gumla block, Jhark

I do not see any loss of function or purpose of MCI: Ajay Kumar, NBE

Dr Ajay Kumar, a noted urologist from Bihar who has been a member of the Medical  Council of India (MCI) and chairman of its grievance redressal cell, has been na

Aid cut hits AIDS fight

It was a hot summer morning, with the sun beating down on my head reminding me of how my idea of meeting Sonia at her office was a bad one. She had already hinted during our phone conversation that

Man’s new best friend – a tree

A tree in the backyard keeps the doctor away? Maybe that should be the new-age mantra for good health. A paper published by the University of Chicago researchers, in the journal Scientific

Why winding up MCI with the NMC bill makes sense

India faces an unenviable challenge of tackling the dual burden of diseases and lack of qualified health personnel. The number of surgeons, anaesthetists and obstetricians per hundred thousand peop

World Alzheimers Day: Out of mind, out of sight

My father once told me to get him a glass of water. On holding the glass, he complained that the water wasn’t hot. After I got him hot water, he complained that it wasn’t sweet. I put s

Yet another ID

The government has proposed to provide a new unique identification number to eight crore BPL households, or approximately 40 crore people, for its new insurance scheme, National Health Protection S

An evolving healthcare system

HLL Infra Tech Services Limited (HITES), a wholly owned subsidiary of public sector firm HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), has recently secured its first global contract to offer consultancy services

Medical admissions: How Haryana govt is favouring pvt colleges

The Haryana government is clearly giving preference to private medical colleges by scheduling the date for the last counselling session a day before the counselling date scheduled for government co

Chikungunya: Quite a bite

It was 9.50 am on a sultry Friday when a 42-year-old lean man with droopy eyes waited for his turn along with 150-odd patients outside Safdarjung hospital’s fever clinic, as his body temperat

Amendments to HIV and AIDS bill: all you need to know

    The bill makes it compulsory for the central and state governments to provide for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and related health hazards (management of infe

Social Solidarity in healthcare

The world will observe the fourth universal health coverage day on December 12, urging governments to ensure universal access to quality healthcare without financial hardship. India, a sign

“India will lose $2.5 tn unless NCDs are addressed”

For the first time, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been included by the government in the draft national health policy, 2015. However, efforts to battle this threat remains largely shape

“There is no check on quality of education and food provided at ashram schools”

The death of more than 200 tribal children in Palghar this year once again highlights the deep-rooted problem of malnutrition among children, especially the tribal ones. Most tribal children go

Doctoring his way to the top

Ketan Desai, a famous name in the medical world, is a man with unimaginable access and influence in the power galleries, be it in Gujarat or Delhi, with Congress or BJP. And his election as the cha

When TB numbers go out of count

India currently has the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in the world. But hold your breath! A new study has suggested that the number of TB cases in India is a gross underestimate. In

How tribal infants are dying of malnutrition in Palghar

On a cloudy afternoon in the last days of September, a five-watt bulb hangs inside a kuchha hut in Kalamwadi village, somewhere deep in a tribal area of Palghar district, Maharashtra. The flickerin

A waste of money?

All is not well with healthcare delivery at the grassroots. Exploring the government healthcare system in the rural belts of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh during my five-month long field work,

India gets an index that shows states` performance on health outcomes

The National Index for Performance on Health Outcomes was launched at Niti Aayog on Friday. The index, spearheaded by NITI Aayog along with the health ministry, will nudge states tow

Rich man’s bitter pill

Martin Shkreli, an American entrepreneur and hedge fund manager, hogged global headlines last year when he suddenly hiked the price of Daraprim, a life-saving drug used in the treatment of AIDS and

Air in most Indian cities hazardous: Greenpeace

None of the Indian cities comply with standards prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said a Greenpeace report.   The report “Airpocalypse” as

India should set up strong surveillance system over salt intake

We strongly recommend against a drastic reduction in sodium intake to <3 g/day until evidence is available from large clinical trials that show clear benefits, said an editorial in The National

Guesthouses live in licence limbo

When Jane Katuse, a Nigerian national, arrived in Gurugram to undergo in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) at the Artemis Hospital, she settled into an airy, well-appointed guesthouse. It is in fact a larg

Killer seeds of Malkangiri

Children in the tribal district of Malkangiri in Odisha have been dying in mysterious circumstances since September-end, and medical experts were none the wiser. More than 100 children have died, a

Malnutrition a serious challenge: WEF report

The triple burden of malnutrition – undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies and over-nutrition – presents serious challenges and has the potential to worsen. Nearly 800 million p

A bitter pill for e-pharmacies

Pawan Kumar’s doctor prescribed him some medicines for three months. The monthly bill of his medicines came around Rs 1,600, minus Rs 50 – the discount given by his local chemist. But w

Maternal mortality: Best practices can be adopted by poll-bound states

Demonetisation proved that we keep a good account of our money but apparently we lack expertise and motivation in counting maternal deaths, most of which are entirely preventable. Regular and com

Delhi in your lungs

Sohan Lal, a traffic constable with Delhi police, is often short of breath, suffers bouts of wheezing and coughing, and sometimes complains of chest pain. He’s only 33 and was recruited after

India’s air pollution one of the worst in the world: Study

Increasing exposure to polluted air and a growing and aging population have meant that India now rivals China for among the highest air pollution health burdens in the world, with both countries

Report on stent over-pricing not for faint-hearted

Stent prices have been a rip-off in India, till the government stepped in to bring it below Rs 30,000 per piece. The prices have now been slashed as much as 85 percent.  

India makes strong case for cheap meds

The governing body of the UN’s health agency that sets the agenda of work on global health met late January. In its 140th session, the executive board (EB) of the World Health Organisation (W

A golden touch

I dreaded a bit as I stepped inside the Thrissur district general hospital in Kerala. I have walked in and out of government hospitals almost half of my life as a health and science writer for vari

What’s bad is better than what’s at home

Food is ready to be served on a plastic sheet laid on the floor. Children and mothers (pregnant and lactating) eagerly wait to get something down in their bellies. But before that begins, anganwadi

The battle to access affordable medicines heats up

Tobeka Daki, a single South African mother and health activist from the eastern Cape, died fighting breast cancer in November last year. Her oncologist had told Tobeka that she needed trast

Sustainable health care model possible in India

Book: Health Care Reforms in India: Making up for lost decades Author: Rajendra Pratap Gupta Publisher: Reed Elsevier India Pvt.

A trusty old sword takes on leprosy

Twelve years after announcing the elimination of leprosy, the government is undertaking a massive vaccination drive against the disease. That slow about-turn is the culmination of a rush

Whose womb is it anyway?

In the nine years of my career here, I have not seen a single instance of a couple bringing along a relative who will bear their child as a surrogate mother,” says Inderpreet Kaur, he

Pop his capsule, and it’ll screen you for cancer

A young Indian surgeon doing his senior residency in Boston University in the US has a new tool to fight cancer of the esophagus. It is a tiny stringed brush hidden in a capsule and can be

Performance of district hospitals can now be tracked

  Tracking the performance of district hospitals spread across the country just got easier, with the Niti Aayog working out the metrics and developing a framework. &n

Here`s what should be on your reading list this weekend

Thanks to the high-speed broadband connectivity, practicals and complex subjects are taught using YouTube at the school. “Life-saving activities like heart pumping during a cardiac arrest can

How to put India ‘on course’ to fight malnutrition

It is not surprising that the Global Nutrition Report 20161 places India ‘off course’ for all nutrition indicators, with some progress in stunting and underweight, and none a

Now a portal about electromagnetic field of mobile towers

 The government on Tuesday launched a portal that provides information about mobile towers and electromagnetic field (EMF) emission compliance. Minister of state (independent charge)

Parody of the health mission

Improving the availability of health workers, particularly at the sub-centre level, has been one of the thrust areas of the national rural health mission (NRHM).  Back in 200

Dengue could be history soon

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Melinda Gates in April volunteered to get bitten by the dengue causing Aedis mosquitoes in Indonesia. They were donating blood

“How can an insurance firm promote death?”

Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a head and neck cancer surgeon at the Tata Memorial hospital in Mumbai, is a leading anti-tobacco activist. He joined hands with Sumitra Hooda Pednekar and others to file

Trapped in the shadows

Meena, a solemn, raspy-voiced woman in a black salwar-kameez, is gyrating to a Bollywood number with gusto. The vivid range of her expressions counterpoints her lanky frame. Life is limping back to

Spike in dengue, TB cases in Mumbai: Report

 Dengue cases in Mumbai have increased by a whopping 265% from 2013-2017, said a report which added that almost 18 people have died every day from tuberculosis (TB) in 2016-17. Accor

Holistic treatment of mentally ill patients

As many as 50 million people suffer from mental illnesses in India – only 10% people with common mental disorders and only 40%-50% peop

Deadly smoke signals

There are a zillion secret reasons why people start on the one habit that has not even a single benefit, worsens their health from the very first day, uglifies their teeth and makes them smell unbe

The Tobacco War

Tobacco companies are not known to be the fairest of fighters in market battles. But Philip Morris International (PMI) seems to have gone to extremes in its grand strategy to sweep the Indian marke

The lady fights baccy

It’s a question that needed asking. Is it kosher for a state (or a state-run enterprise) to invest in profitable tobacco companies when it professes an anti-tobacco stance, educates people ag

Light at the end of the tunnel

Tobacco is a major preventable cause of death and disease globally. It is a threat to development, environment, society and economy. Many countries have strengthened their tobacco control legislati

War in the time of cholera: why Yemen needs urgent ceasefire

A forgotten war tucked away in the southern-most part of west Asia has begot one of the worst humanitarian disasters the world has seen. An international aid agencies’ report says that Yemen

52 kids die at Jharkhand hospital, NHRC issues notice

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to the Jharkhand government after 52 children died at a hospital over a period of 30 days.   The deaths

Indians would live a lot longer if air quality improves

If India reduced its air pollution to comply with the WHO’s air quality standard, its people could live about 4 years longer on average, or a combined more than 4.7 billion life years, said

World is running out of antibiotics: WHO

There is going to be a huge lack of new antibiotics in coming future. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that there is “a serious lack of new antibiotics under devel

Don’t make hasty move to address shortage of doctors: Lancet

Lancet journal on health has asked the Indian government against taking a hasty step on the haphazard integration of the Indian system of medicine (Ayush) with the modern medicine based on allopath

Healthy attitude

The biggest challenge in front of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) when it was voted to power in 2015 with a “scary mandate” was healthcare. Improving the health system and making it affordabl

India slips in Global Gender Gap index

India has slipped in the Global Gender Gap Index ranking of the World Economic Forum, just days after it did so well in World Bank’s ease of doing business. It now stands at 108th position.

No right to plan their families

Bhadiya from Bhanpur Kheda village does not know her age. She has five children – the eldest one is 12-year-old while the youngest is an infant. Considering she got married in her teens &ndas

India continues to suffer due to TB: WHO

India has one of the highest numbers of TB cases in the world, a World Health Organisation (WHO) report has said. An estimated 10.4 million people fell ill with TB in 2016: 90% were

Clinical trial and error

Pradeep Gehlot’s voice trembles even now when he talks of his father Srikrishna Gehlot’s death four years ago of a complication he developed in his chest. “Father h

Health vs Education

Constitutionally, health and education are seen as rights resting on an equivalent platform: both are part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21, both are vested as a duty upon the stat

Per capita disease burden has gone down in India: Study

Per capita disease burden measured as disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) rate has dropped by about a third in India over the past 26 years, said a Lancet study. The study “N

The beginning of real loss

She is tall, skinny and dark-complexioned. She sports a tattoo of lines and dots on her forehead, as if displaying a hieroglyphic text. Her neck is laden with beaded jewellery and a thick, rusted i

Are we seriously fighting malnutrition?

It did not surprise me when the India: health of the nation’s states, the India state-level disease burden initiative report released recently reported malnutrition the prime risk factor driv

Malnutrition sapping India’s strength

The country is facing a problem of malnutrition, so much so that prime minister Narendra Modi had to personally take stock of the situation. Modi on Friday reviewed the progress and

AIDS can be eradicated only by addressing stereotypes, stigma and discrimination

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) have quite diligently covered issues of human well-being to achieve greater sustainable development in the years to come. Among the 17 goal

Air pollution can damage children’s brains: Unicef report

Air pollution potentially affects children’s brains, according to a new Unicef report which also points out that the majority of children at risk are in South Asia. The

Not just lungs, a lot more is at risk due to air pollution

 All this while doctors in Delhi have been repeatedly warning about the health risk, particularly to lungs, due to the toxic air in the National Capital Region. But, two back-to-back studies h

GAIL hosts oil and gas conclave

 GAIL Limited organised two day-long oil and gas health safety and environment (HSE) conclave for oil and gas enterprises on Friday at Noida GAIL director (projects) and chairman of

Government spent Rs 1,526 on your health

Wondering how much the government spent on your health? Well, it was exactly Rs 1,526 in 2016-17. Union health minister JP Nadda informed parliament that the per capita expenditure o

Get treated by robot at govt hospital

A robot will treat cancer and other diseases at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital. Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed parliament that for operationalisation of robotic sys

“DBT is needed to implement plans for TB elimination”

Close to 1,400 lives are lost to tuberculosis every day in India. The government has set itself the target of making India TB-free by 2025, under ‘National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis

Straining under a new strain

In 2012, there was a major outbreak of dengue in Tamil Nadu. Across the state, 12,826 cases were reported, but the epicentre was Tirunelveli district. There were 66 deaths. Bad as this was, it mark

How Bhutan is enuring food security

When Bhupen Gurung from the Royal University of Bhutan told the audience at the TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, about dropping levels of poverty in Bhutan, many public policy academ

NHRC notice to Punjab over serious diseases in Malwa

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the chief secretary of Punjab and the secretary of union ministry of health for a detailed report within six weeks on the situation

Heartbreaking stories of backbreaking medical bills

Gopendra Singh Parmar broke into tears several times while speaking of the last days of his eight-year-old son, Sourya, who died of dengue at the paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) of the Dr Ram

A health protection scheme for 10 crore families

The budgetary allocation for health has increased by 11.5 percent this year. It has increased to Rs 52,800 crores in 2018-19 from Rs 47,353 in 2017-18. Government in the budget 2018

Budget is growth and employment oriented: Experts

"It is a growth oriented budget. What we are doing now for the agriculture sector should have been done 20-30 years ago otherwise there will be food inflation and food crisis,” says Gaur

Budget forward looking, opine experts

The union budget will boost investments, accelerate innovation and generate new career opportunities, felt experts who noted that the focus on Artificial Intelligence is a timely move.

New gods, new lives and lost identity: The Baiga story

Gyanwati, a Baiga tribeswoman, recently made the 15 km journey from her village Jhulup to a house in Bhanpur Kheda that has a large, framed picture of Lord Hanuman. It was an act of penance to a go

Health budget just one-third of the 2025 target

In the union budget for 2018-19, some big announcements have been made especially for the health sector but not supported by corresponding budgetary allocations. While, on the one hand, allocations

National Health Mission needs a leg up

The National Health Mission, which is aimed at achieving universal access to health care by strengthening health systems, institutions and capabilities, needs to be significantly improved to become

50 years of fruitless fight against anaemia

India has not been able to tackle anaemia among women and children despite launching a targeted programme nearly 50 years back. National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis’s progr

Health groups irked by the SC order on vaccine PSUs

Health groups have expressed their disappointment with a February 12 order of the supreme court, refusing to review or recall an earlier order disposing off a case against the mala fide suspension

Going generic

While the centre has encouraged drug stores that sell generics (as opposed to branded medicines) under the Jan Aushadhi scheme, states have obtained mixed results in the implementation. In Andhra P

“Private hospitals functioning in regulatory vacuum”

Patients and health groups came together in Delhi to voice concerns over the unethical practices of private hospitals, which they say are a direct outcome of the regulatory vacuum, allowing them to

Health ministry finalises bill on data privacy

After three years of continuous drafting and re-drafting, the ministry of health and family welfare is finally ready with a draft of a legislation intended to regulate growing digitisation in healt

Why organ transplants are so expensive and difficult to get

Kishan Kumar, who ran a small shop in Kanpur, died of kidney failure at 42. The cause, as in most cases, was progressive diabetes. With his meagre income, no medical insurance, and the responsibili

Governance Now journalists win award for best TB reporting

Governance Now on Thursday bagged the REACH Media Awards for 2017-2018 for best reporting (English category) on tuberculosis (TB) at an event co-hosted by REACH, USAID and Lilly Global Health in pa

On World TB Day, survivors and affected community members issue joint statement

With the highest burden of TB internationally, India has embarked on a mission to end TB by 2025 five years ahead of the global target. The END TB Summit held in New Delhi was inaugu

Adya Case: Supreme Court admits petition against Fortis

The Supreme Court on Friday admitted a writ petition against Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI), Gurugram, in Adya’ case wherein the seven year-old girl child lost her life after a two

Dengue death: Instead of taking action against Medanta, Nadda gets the money reimbursed

Dr Naresh Trehan’s Medanta hospital handed out a check of Rs 15.68 lakh to the family of Sourya Singh Parmar, the seven-year-old child who died of dengue after undergoing three week long trea

How to spend for universal healthcare

India remains among the countries with the lowest public health budgets in the world. Its health budget stands at around 1 percent of the GDP.  This historical lack of emphasis on the health s

‘Smart food of 21st century’ for the children

India’s mid-day meal (MDM) scheme is the largest school lunch programme in the world, with over 97 million beneficiaries. It aims at improving the nutritional status of children in government

Going primary with healthcare

The Ayushman Bharat health protection scheme, which aims to help the poor with an annual health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family, has taken up a lot of media space, relegating health and wel

Accessing safe abortion remains a challenge

Unplanned pregnancy is the major cause of abortion in India. The number women who undergo such abortions are higher than those who go for unauthorised sex selective abortions. "

The go-to place for kidney transplants

Since the noughties, surgeons have been performing and advocating surgery that accesses internal organs through the body’s natural orifices. Such procedures are called natural orifice translu

Tackling malnourishment in India: a matter of palpable urgency

Good nutrition is crucial to individual and national development, and is one critical area where India’s progress is slow even after nearly a half-century of respectable agricultural producti

Experts come together to discuss maternal and child health

Despite making remarkable progress in maternal and child health, recognition of sexual and reproductive rights of women and adolescent girls in India remain negligible. Studies conducted across and

Paediatricians call for junking unhealthy food

As children are consuming more and more fast foods and sweetened beverages are becoming, leading to obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has

E-cigarette ban welcome; now aim for more tobacco control

In what it describes as a “major health and wellness initiative for the country”, the union cabinet has approved the promulgation of an ordinance to ban electronic cigarettes. The move,

Why the abortion law needs to be amended

Since the enactment of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, women in India have been legally allowed to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The Act sets a threshold of 12 weeks, based on the

Plug gaps in nutrition programme to stop obesity in children aged 6-23 months: Study

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) norms for THR (take home rations) are constant throughout the complementary feeding age group (6-24 months) and beyond, despite variations in requireme

Connecting the dots: Environmentalism, development and health

Every winter Delhi experiences some of the worst air pollution levels in the world. Concentrations of particulate matter – PM10 and PM2.5 – regularly hover around values of 400 to 500,

India gears up to meet Coronavirus challenge

With the outbreak of Coronavirus reported from China, India has started taking precautionary measures, and begun screening passengers of selected flights. “As of 21st January,

Coronavirus outbreak: India steps up vigil

As the coronavirus outbreak in China continues to claim lives, India has stepped up its precautionary measures. The cabinet secretary on Monday reviewed the situation along with the

Novel Coronavirus: PM constitutes GoM

A third positive case of Novel Coronavirus has been reported from Kerala, even as the Indian authorities stepped up their efforts to meet the challenge of the virus outbreak from China. On the dire

Mumbai civic body hiding real Covid-19 toll: Kirit Somaiya

Firebrand BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has blasted BMC Commissioner, IS Chahal, for claiming credit for reducing numbers of coronavirus cases in Mumbai city and said that BMC’s own Sero Survey ha

"Mumbai Commissioner shameless in taking credit for Covid numbers"

Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has blasted BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner IS Chahal for taking credit for reducing the number of coronavirus infections in the in the slum sp

“Focus on developing sustainable, resilient pathways for future”

SEEDS, a not-for-profit organization, enables community resilience in the areas of disaster readiness, response and rehabilitation. Manu Gupta, co-founder of the organization, is a doctorate in

Mumbai to start PCV for children under one year of age

 To protect small children below one years of age against pneumococcal pneumonia and other pneumococcal diseases, the Mumbai municipality will now start vaccinating children with Pneumococcal

How PATH helps Maharashtra, Punjab ramp up Covid testing

India has come out of the devastating second wave, but to be prepared for any next wave, testing, along with Covid-appropriate behaviour (CAB), has to be the first line of defence. Given its vast p

‘Blue Zones’ concept of healthy living and its relevance in India

A long life span free from diseases and disability, the so-called healthy aging, has been a matter of prime interest to humanity. It is widely held that the life expectancy is a function of interpl

Omicron: Maharashtra revises travel guidelines

A day after the union health secretary wrote to it that its order on SOPs for air travellers was in divergence with guidelines issued by the MoHFW, GoI in view of the Omicron threat, the Maharashtr

Perils of public policy: How much good is good

Gladstone, the well known British Prime Minister observed in the 19th century, “Here is my first principle of foreign policy; good government at home.” How interesting and how cherish-a

Skin donation can save lives: India needs to raise awareness

An estimated 7 million people die of burn injuries every year in India, making it the largest group of injuries after road accidents. 80% of those who suffer burn injuries are women and children. A

Exclusive Breastfeeding? Yes. Effective Breastfeeding? No. What to do?

Our hearts almost skipped a beat when we heard community health officer (CHO) Dr. Sandeep Kakuste’s success story with baby Pinki Lakhan Patil, who was born underweight in a brick kiln. Pinki

Indians are living longer – more so in Delhi, Punjab and Uttarakhand

Average life expectancy at birth has been increasing in India over the past half century, along with progress in healthcare facilities. It has gone up from 49.7 during 1970-75 to 69.7 during 2015-1

Towards making India TB-mukt by 2025

“When a welfare scheme is made in interest of people, its chances of success increase manifold,” said president Droupadi Murmu as she launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

Celebrating the Ganit of Protein!

“Why is the child growing?” is the question that bothers a lot many in the administration. The answer, to be honest, is to be discovered via science, and less via what we call ‘ef

Is India equipped to deal with population bulge?

India is projected to surpass China in terms of population in 2023, becoming the most populous country in the world, according to the United Nations. More than half of India’s population is u

‘Seasonal Influenza’: health ministry keeps watch on situation

Given an unusual uptick in the cases of “seasonal influenza” in the recent days, the health ministry Friday said that it was keeping a close watch on the situation in various states/UTs

Yoga Day celebrated across the globe with increased mass participation

The 9th edition of International Day of Yoga 2023 was a successfully celebrated on much larger scale and witnessed new initiatives. The main National event at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh saw enthusias

How education is a positive influence on healthcare

Pulse to Planet: The Long Lifeline of Human Health By K. Srinath Reddy With Forewords by N.R. Narayana Murthy & Sir Michael Marmot HarperCollins |

Jan Bhagidari will take AYUSH to grassroots: Sonowal

Underlining the importance of traditional healthcare systems along with modern medicines, union minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday said, “Modern and Traditional Medicine systems w

46 Tele-MANAS cells established in 34 states, 5,00,000+ calls received

The government launched a National Tele Mental Health Programme on October 10, 2022, to further improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country. As on December

Govt to study impact of air pollution on human health

The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has sanctioned projects to assess impact of air pollution on human health in 20 selected cities across the country under the National Environm

First-of-its-kind treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia developed

Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, the Advanced Centre for Training Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Navi Mumbai along with IDRS Labs, Bangalore have developed an oral suspension of 6-mercap

Budgeting for healthcare, the key factor for Viksit Bharat

The unveiling of the interim union budget 2024 has underscored significant strides in the healthcare sector, accentuating its pivotal role in the nation’s well-being. With the goal to make In

India’s first home-grown gene therapy for cancer launched

President of India Droupadi Murmu launched India’s first home-grown gene therapy for cancer at IIT Bombay here on Thursday. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that th

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


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