PUBLICATIONS
Central scheme of free drugs gets a quiet burial
It was in 2012 that the Centre first promised to provide free drugs in public health facilities. The first budgetary provision was made in 2013. Last year, the promise was crystallized to providing 348 essential drugs free. This was later whittled down to just 50...
Parliamentary panel parroted tobacco industry’s words
Barely days after the cancellation of the April 1 deadline for tobacco firms to stamp health warnings over 85% of cigarette packs, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM) came out firmly in support of the parliamentarian who headed the committee which...
Conflict of interest: Venkaiah Naidu frowns, so does tobacco panel
Amid the controversy over the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad Shyama Charan Gupta, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday that it was expected that conflicts of interest are declared in accordance with rules. Gupta, a member of the Committee...
RTI overrides privacy norms of MCI in patients records: Central Information Commission
The provisions of Medical Council of India to protect confidentiality in patients' records cannot override statutes of Right to Information Act, Central Information Commission has held.Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu held that after RTI Act has come into...
T N Ninan: Don’t subsidise, build
Most relatively well-off Indians have got used to the idea of taking out medical insurance policies in order to take care of possible health episodes. It has been a rapidly growing business, doubling in four or five years. The annual insurance premium was estimated...
Concern over private sector tilt in India’s new health policy
The Indian Government's draft national health policy, which many experts view as a step away from universal health coverage, is out for public consultation. Dinesh C Sharma reports.The much-awaited health policy of India's right-wing Government, which took office in...
A nationwide capacity building in HPSR
KEYSTONE is a collective initiative of several Indian health policy and systems research (HPSR) organizations to strengthen national capacity in HPSR towards addressing critical needs of health systems and policy development. KEYSTONE is convened by the Public Health...
Posting and transfer holds clues to the health of health services
By Kabir Sheikh A contract health worker is posted in a remote health post, 700 km away from where his spouse and children live. He sees them once a year, using up most of his annual leave of 18 days, in travel. He has been applying unsuccessfully to be posted closer...
Tackling sexual violence in India
By Jacqueline Bhaba, Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health I read Sharma et al.’s recent paper ‘Sexual violence in India: addressing gaps between policy and implementation’ with interest. The death of “Nirbhaya”, the...
Antenatal care in India: what’s missing?
By Sanghita Bhattacharyya From conception through to birth, a child’s health is very closely linked to its mother’s. The pre-delivery phase is a particularly important stage in the continuum of care. Good information and care during the antenatal period links the...