As India observes Poshan Maah – National Nutrition Month – Health Issues India focuses on two Indian states with the worst state of nutrition deficiency in the country. Recently, a journalist was booked by the Uttar Pradesh government for “maligning the image of the state government” after he uncovering uncovered the state government’s ostensible apathy […]
National Nutrition Month: Can India be malnutrition-free by 2022?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to make India malnutrition-free by 2022 and in a bid to do so September is being observed as Rashtriya Poshan Maah – National Nutrition Month – to raise awareness about nutrition. The objective is to reduce the number of instances of newborn babies with low birth weight, children with […]
Will India achieve the SDGs on health?
India’s aim to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Health seems likely to be unattainable by 2030, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said. The main reason it identifies behind this is India’s ability to achieve public health expenditure targets, as the country faces a relative dearth of data […]
India’s population growth: Explosion or slowdown?
Is the government planning to bring in a law on population regulation? Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements cautioning India over what he called its ‘reckless population explosion’ may be a hint. Does India need such a law when it is staring at a slowdown? “Population explosion has been occuring at an unrestrained pace. This population […]
Toxic vegetables being sold in Delhi: Study
Beware! Chances are high that the vegetables you are eating in the national capital contain high levels of lead. According to a study conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), vegetables grown on the Yamuna floodplains contain high doses of lead, leading to high risk to the public. Prolonged consumption of such toxic […]
Rotavirus vaccine blessing for Delhi kids
The Delhi government’s decision to provide a free dose of the rotavirus vaccine to kids from August has come as a significant move in its public health policy and a big boon to child health in the national capital. The vaccine holds importance as it prevents diarrhoeal deaths among children. Quoting sources, a report published […]
Dengue data: Government claims versus reality
Is India mishandling its dengue data concerning deaths from the disease? The latest report by The Lancet claims there is a mismatch between the numbers from its study and the ones reported by India to the World Health Organization (WHO). The mosquito-borne tropical disease – which the WHO considers the world’s fastest-growing mosquito-borne disease and […]
Opening Indian pharma’s Bottle of Lies
“They often make their worst drugs — with the lowest-quality ingredients and the most manufacturing shortcuts — for the least regulated markets, including India,” writes investigative journalist Katherine Eban in her book Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Boom (also subtitled as Ranbaxy and the Dark Side of Indian Pharma), an exposé […]
Health Budget sees a marginal hike, Ayushman Bharat gets Rs 6400cr
With a focus on job creation, infrastructure, economic slowdown and ease of living, Union Budget 2019 has shown little concern towards an ever deteriorating public health system. There has been only a marginal increase in allocations for the health ministry, leaving a sector that has long been reeling under lack of infrastructure a bit disappointed. […]
Budget 2019: Healthcare sector needs more funds
The recent Bihar tragedy has highlighted fatal loopholes in the much-neglected Indian public healthcare sector, which is crying for government attention. The deaths of over 150 children could have been averted if Bihar’s healthcare infrastructure had adequate facilities. Against this backdrop, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her first budget and public health […]