government policy

India’s public health system is in dire straits. Yet states don’t spend health funds.

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It is no secret that our public health system is in dire straits. With less than one doctor for every 11,000 people and shortages of hospitals, personnel and resources (especially in rural areas), many patients face difficulty availing care. It boggles the mind, then, that states aren’t making the most of the healthcare funds. Between […]

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Oxytocin ban: High court seeks answers from the Centre

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Will the government take a u-turn on its decision to revoke ban on hormone drug oxytocin or will the private companies be allowed to produce the life saving drug? The Delhi High Court is seeking answers from the Centre over legal challenges filed against its controversial ban on the hormone drug oxytocin. The Centre seems

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Disease elimination and the dangers of resurgence

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Eliminating a disease is undoubtedly a positive achievement, typically signalling that a country is one step closer towards ridding itself of said disease entirely. However, this news brings with it the dangers of policymakers and populations becoming complacent – allowing for a potential resurgence. The qualification for the classification of elimination is a reduction of

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Modicare begins on September 25th. Here’s what we know so far.

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The BJP government’s large-scale health insurance initiative was rolled out in some states today, to coincide with Independence Day celebrations across the country. Though some anticipated a full-scale launch of the programme, the scheme was not launched nationwide but began a gradual rollout in select states. Full rollout of the scheme is expected on September

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Oxytocin: The strange case of India’s ban

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The Centre has been encouraged to scrap its controversial ban on private sector sales of Oxytocin by the Drug and Technical Advisory Board (DTAB). In a stunning u-turn from the body’s previous stance, it is now exhorting the health ministry to ensure that the hormone drug is “[available] for human use.” Oxytocin is used to

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GM foods sold in India despite ban. What’s the risk?

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Enter a supermarket in Delhi and you have a good chance of picking up food from the shelf that’s been made with genetically modified (GM) ingredients. This is according to a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) report, which claims that 32 percent of foodstuffs sold in the National Capital Region

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Kerala takes stand against hospital acquired infections

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Kerala has learnt its lessons after the Nipah tragedy. It is to introduce a policy to control and prevent hospital acquired infections.  The move comes after the Nipah virus outbreak in the state earlier this year, in which all but four of those who succumbed to the virus contracted it in hospital. “We are working

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Oxytocin: Behind the ban on the controversial hormone drug

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This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.   By Nimeshika Jayachandran The government has decided to push the date on banning the manufacture and sale of Oxytocin to September. It was earlier announced that a ban on the manufacturing and sale of the drug for domestic use by

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India’s health check: It’s bad news

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In August 2016, a tribal man in Odisha walked ten kilometres from the hospital where his wife died. He carried her body with him – in the presence, no less, of his twelve-year-old daughter. He was forced to do so because the state hospital could not provide an ambulance.  The incident served as a graphic

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Time for India to deliver on NCDs

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the threat of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). India should take note. “NCDs and mental disorders currently pose one of the biggest threats to health and development globally,” a WHO high-level independent commission on NCDs said in their report released on Friday, June 1. It added,

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