Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 24/02/2025. The Supreme Court (SC), February 24, 2025 has directed all states to file their affidavits addressing concerns raised about antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs …
The compulsory licence issued to Natco for manufacture of the anti-cancer drug Nexavar is a landmark decision on many grounds – the first one in India since the 2005 amendment to the 1970 Patents Act and the fi rst in the world issued to a private party. There are some …
The medicine price regulator, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), has found a price fixing mechanism suggested by its parent ministry, chemicals and fertilisers, has failed to meaningfully lower the prices of key cancer medicines. A group of ministers (GoM) headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is expected to meet …
Moving towards major reforms, the Centre is in the process of rolling out a universal health coverage package in at least one district in each State on an experimental basis. This would include a clearly defined basket of services to those who come to any public health facility for treatment …
With seven swine flu cases reported in the city, the civic body is making efforts to ensure that sufficient arrangements are in place for an aggravated situation. The BMC has directed all laboratories and hospitals, both private and public, to submit daily reports of suspected swine flu samples they receive …
Scientists, including an Indian-origin researcher, claim a vaccine against heart attack is being developed, which could be available within five years. Coronary heart disease occurs when fatty plaques build up in the blood vessels feeding the heart and over time become narrowed. Parts of the plaque may break off causing …
Health is a crucially important social and economic asset - a cornerstone for human development. Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for specific health improvements by 2015: reducing the child and maternal mortality and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Ensuring that patients in the developing world get access to the medicines they need remains an unfulfilled desire. This is true in spite of the significant progress over the last decade in providing treatment to poor people suffering in particular from the "big three" pandemics, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The …
Infectious diseases remain major causes of ill health among poor people. Almost 3 billion people live on less than US$ 2 a day, and they continue to be at the greatest risk for these diseases. How can this be possible when global health funding is increasing and new drugs and …
London: The first “book of cancer knowledge” detailing how hundreds of cancer cells respond to anti-cancer agents has been published, which scientists say will speed up the search for new cancer drugs. The cancer “encyclopedia” is a step towards tailoring cancer medicine to a patient’s genetic profile. In the field …
Tripura has been declared ‘malaria prone’ following the detection of 346 positive cases of Plasmodium Falciparum (PF) in the State during the last one month, official sources said on Thursday. Health minister Tapan Chakraborty said that medical experts have advised the State government to use second generation drugs instead of …
The government on Tuesday contested the WHO figures that put the number of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases in India at 63,000, saying there were only 10,267. As many as 38,287 suspected cases were examined till the end of 2011 and of them, 10,267 have been diagnosed with MDR-TB and …
Tuesday's meeting to examine the pricing policy prepared by ministry of chemicals & fertilisers On Tuesday, a group of ministers (GoM) led by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar will examine the proposed National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) prepared by the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers. The key issue is to vet …
In January 2005, drug product patent protection was reintroduced in India to comply with the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. How are the multinational pharmaceutical companies responding to the new policy environment? Is India likely to see monopolisation of the industry and high prices, which was …
A high-level panel constituted by the health ministry is likely to suggest a system of negotiated prices for all new medicines approved in the country. The proposal to control the launch prices of drugs comes at a time when the chemicals and fertilisers ministry, responsible for deciding medicine prices, is …
The percentage of MDR in new TB cases in India is 2.1 India had an estimated 63,000 cases of notified multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 2010, the highest in the South East Asia region, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The MDR-TB prevalence is estimated to be 2.3 per …
An AIIMS study has found that dhaniya or coriander plays a significant therapeutic role in managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The study, published in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Research, evaluated the anti-arthritic activity of the herb among rats. Dhaniya or Coriandrum sativum was found to inhibit …
The humble aspirin’s case for being a wonder drug just got stronger. Three studies published in the latest issues of The Lancet show the analgesic to have anti-cancer properties, along with a role in prevention of distant metastasis (spread from one part of the body to another) of the disease. …
Jaipur: The state health ministry is closely monitoring the recent cases of swine flu and has already started collecting details about the reports on a daily basis. So far, in March, 28 cases of swine flu have been reported in the state and out of them five have died of …