Pollution may have reached emergency proportions in Delhi, but it has not dissuaded a record number of people signing up to compete in its half marathon tomorrow. The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon this year has witnessed 40,633 people sign up, despite the numerous health risks of running in such conditions. Exposure to pollutants such as […]
Featured Stories
Sex discrimination and women in the workforce
Endemic sex discrimination takes its toll on the Indian economy, with the absence of women in the workforce, an imbalanced sex ratio, and social prejudices holding back a boon for India’s GDP. According to a report published recently in The Print, almost 120 million women who have at least a secondary education do not participate […]
Share SAFAR tech to help fight against pollution: Delhi to Centre
The Delhi government has appealed to the Centre to share System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) technology in the fight against pollution, as the national capital grapples with a deterioration in its air quality. Ahead of Diwali, air quality in numerous parts of Delhi has been ranked as “very poor” with […]
A newborn buried alive: A visceral reminder of sex discrimination in India
“At one point I thought that my daughter had come alive. But the voice was actually coming from the pot.” Those were the words of Hitesh Sirohi, a father who had recently lost his daughter. When he went to bury his child, he made a shocking discovery. His shovel hit a clay pot, buried three […]
Maharashtra government in the firing line from experts on health
The Maharashtra government is in the firing line for its performance on health indicator by experts, who claim that the outward appearance of progress belies the truth of the government’s performance. “The last five years tell the story of lost opportunities as far as the health sector is concerned,” said Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health […]
India’s life expectancy among lowest in South-East Asia
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released its latest Global Competitiveness Index analysing statistics such as life expectancy — and the results do not reflect well on India. The index analyses a number of metrics, from health data to economic performance. In many of these categories, India is not only being outperformed by its neighbours, […]
IVF treatment allows a woman to give birth – at age 75
Another case has been witnessed in India of a woman in her seventies giving birth after receiving in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. A resident of Sangod, a rural town in Rajasthan, the woman – reportedly aged 75 – gave birth on Saturday, October 12th, to a daughter after conceiving via IVF treatment in March. The birth […]
COPD in Telangana: Deadly and growing
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of India’s biggest killers and Telangana feels its strain acutely. In 2016, there were 19,000 deaths from COPD in Telangana out of 8.4 lakh deaths nationwide. Since then, the death toll has increased. In 2018, COPD claimed almost one million lives and accounted for thirteen percent of all […]
Visual impairment: How does India fare?
On visual impairment, India has performed well against World Health Organization (WHO) benchmarks in reducing its number of cases. In India, more than sixty million people experience some form of visual impairment and the country is home to twenty percent of the world’s blind population. However, significant progress has been made in recent years. Since […]
Interview: Anjali Gopalan
Interview with health activist Anjali Gopalan May 2016 The lessons learnt in the 1990s from securing access to antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV and AIDS highlight the role of patients in demanding better access to life-saving medicines. As India, like many other growing economies, faces new, deadly diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, Anjali […]