The curious disconnect between Budget and draft national health policy
The Union Budget talks of all the right things on healthcare. There is mention of a need to provide medical services in each village, more All India Institutes of Medical Sciences or AIIMS-like institutions are being planned, there is fillip to the insurance sector,...
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...