COVID-19 and the effects of the pandemic have plagued India’s health system. For those affected by mental health issues, treatment is a practical impossibility. Earlier in the year the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that this situation is now not unique to India. “The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in […]
Government policy
Night curfews not on the cards in Delhi
Night curfews will not be used to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Delhi, the state government has informed the Delhi High Court. The national capital has emerged as a hotspot of COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or simply coronavirus. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government submitted […]
Ahmed Patel passes away due to COVID-19, aged 71
Long-time Indian National Congress (INC) politician and eight-term parliamentarian Ahmed Patel died yesterday due to complications from COVID-19. He was 71 years old. Patel, described as a “veteran” of the INC by NDTV.com, passed away at a hospital in Gurgaon. His son Faisal Patel announced the news on Twitter in a statement that read “with […]
Fourth lowest health budget in the world
India’s lacklustre health budget “may have affected how far people were shielded from the COVID-19 outbreak” according to the latest “Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2020” published by Oxfam. India’s total government spending on health equated to four percent of the overall government budget, according to the report. This is just a quarter of the […]
Ram Vilas Paswan: Obitiuary
Tributes poured in for Union Cabinet minister Ram Vilas Paswan following his death on October 8th, 2020 aged 74. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those to pay tribute to Paswan, whose passing was announced by his son Chirag on Twitter. Ram Vilas Paswan had undergone heart surgery on Sunday, following which Chirag tweeted “over […]
Accelerate testing, Centre tells high-burden states
The Government has instructed multiple states to scale up testing for COVID-19. In the Centre’s crosshairs on testing are Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. They are among the states most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with a positivity rate in excess of the national average of 8.4 percent. Of the four states, Maharashtra […]
Fertility industry in Parliament’s crosshairs as Government introduces bill
The Union Government is moving to regulate the fertility industry in India, having introduced the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha on the first day of its monsoon season. Regulating assisted reproductive technology has been an objective of the Union Government for several months. The Union Cabinet approved the Bill earlier […]
A vaccine is the only option to contain COVID
The point at which India can claim to have achieved herd immunity against COVID-19 is “far away” for the country’s population. This is according to Rajesh Bhushan, an official at the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He has claimed that the only way India can achieve a level of immunity across the population […]
Clean air, saving 650,000 lives?
Air pollution is a well-known and well-documented factor in a number of diseases. It can not only be linked to respiratory diseases, but a host of other conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has shown India that clean air is a very real possibility. A previous article on Health Issues India discussed the silver lining of the […]
Coronavirus cases surpass 70,000
The easing of lockdown measures is being contemplated – despite cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) now rising to over 70,000. Just one week ago Health Issues India reported cases rising above 46,000. Cases have nearly doubled in this time period, rising to exceed 70,000. This number […]