Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Are missing palm trees causing more lighting deaths in Bihar appearing in ‘The Times of India’ dated 29.05.2025". The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Are missing palm trees causing …
Promotion of physical activity is a priority for health agencies. We searched for reviews of physical activity interventions, published between 2000 and 2011, and identified effective, promising, or emerging interventions from around the world. The informational approaches of community-wide and mass media campaigns, and short physical activity messages targeting key …
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) undertook screening of asymptomatic persons from high risk group with the ELISA test for HIV infection in 1986 and found that HIV infection has reached India. ICMR in collaboration with the central and State health services initiated the national sero-surveillance programme for HIV …
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday launched the World Health Organisation’s new country cooperation strategy with India (2012-17) paving the way for a strategic partnership in the global health scene. “In the context of the opportunities and challenges we face, the well being of Indian …
We are writing this letter in the context of the apology recently demanded by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) from actor Aamir Khan, regarding the episode on 27 May 2012 of his show Satyamev Jayate (SJ) dealing with certain practices of the medical profession. We very much appreciate that the …
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is expected to protect the citizen from the marketing of harmful pharmaceuticals. The fi ndings of the 59th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare are an expose of the shockingly lax standards followed by this so-called standards organisation, the …
A cross-sectional study based on women benefi ciaries under the Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefi t Scheme in fi ve districts of Tamil Nadu shows that scheduled caste and landless women in the sample were disadvantaged in receiving benefi ts. Overall, only one-fourth of the women who delivered fi rst or …
Climate change is a public health problem. Evidence from many sectors shows substantial health impacts of climate change, particularly for the most vulnerable: the poorest, the youngest, and the oldest.
For reducing morbidity, mortality and disabilities from the six serious but preventable diseases—that is, tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis and measles—the government of India initiated Expanded Programme on Immunisation by making free vaccination services easily available to all eligible children. Despite considerable gains in immunisation coverage, a large chunk of …
Price control alone will not lower healthcare costs. India will soon have its new drugpricing policy that will determine prices at which pharma companies can sell essential medicines in the retail market. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2011, seeks to evolve a formula to fix the maximum retail prices of …
It is a methodological flaw to conclude from data which shows a rise in the incidence of out-of-pocket medical expenses that the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is ineffective. A response to Sakthivel Selvaraj, Anup K Karan, “Why Publicly- Financed Health Insurance Schemes Are Ineffective in Providing Financial Risk Protection” (EPW, …
The reuse of medical devices marked as 'single use' by manufacturers has been going on for several decades. The process has been rationalized and legislated in the West as well as in Japan. However, the practice continues in unregulated manner in India due to a paucity of guidance from the …
The scale up of DOTS in India is one of the greatest public health accomplishments, and yet undiagnosed and poorly managed TB continues to fuel the epidemic such that India continues to have the highest number of TB cases in the world. Recognizing these challenges, the Government of India has …
The Phase II (2006-2012) of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) has been successful in achieving its objectives. Tuberculosis (TB) disease burden (prevalence and mortality) in India has reduced significantly when compared to 1990 levels, and India is on track to achieve the TB related millennium development goals. Despite …
This study of the operation of the Accredited Social Health Activist programme of the National Rural Health Mission in one of the tribal blocks of Thane district in Maharashtra fi nds that incentives given to ASHAs generate a bias in their work activities and shift the attention of these community …
Present trends suggest that many of the poorest countries in the world, including many in sub-Saharan Africa, will not meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially MDG 4 (reducing under-five mortality) and MDG 5 (reducing maternal mortality). Even in those countries that are on track to meet health MDGs, …
The objective of this study was to explore the policies for, and implementation of, the community case management (CCM) of childhood illnesses in the 68 countries that were prioritized by the “Countdown to 2015” initiative in 2008.
