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2016: the year’s health news in retrospect

2016 in India saw earthquakes, terror attacks, fires, floods, elections, and civil unrest. Amidst the year’s headlines, there were a number of important health developments too. Were they, overall, positive or negative? India Live Today took a broadly positive slant, emphasising 2016 as “the year India became free of yaws and neonatal tetanus” – alluding …

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International generics companies do not deny clinical trial fraud in India

International generic pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations working in India may be producing unreliable data to support their products, according to a new report from Reuters.   At least one international company, Novartis, says that it is stepping up its own checks. “We can’t rely on the regulators … we’re increasing our own audits,” …

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BMJ says Abbott is selling ineffective medicines

An investigation has left Abbott Laboratories, an American-based drug company, facing accusations of pushing unproven medicines in India. The investigation, conducted by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), suggested that Abbott’s Indian arm has been pushing prescriptions of “Surbex star”, a proposed medication for the treatment of neuropathy. However, there is little to no evidence that …

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Health insurance on the rise, though rural areas still left behind

Fourteen times as many Indians had access to any kind of health insurance in 2015 compared to the number in 2004, according to a Brookings Foundation report. A fourteen-fold increase, amounting to 1500% is a considerable achievement over a 10 year period but the numbers represent an even bigger accomplishment. In 2004 only one percent …

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India in talks of healthcare partnership with Canada

A new  healthcare agreement between India and Canada will be the focus of a summit early next year promoting It is the kind of agreement that has been promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last few months. It may prove important to his administration’s National Health Policy (NHP), a bid to provide universal healthcare …

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Rape in India and the shame of a nation

A 23-year-old woman – dubbed ‘Nirbayha’ by the press – was beaten and raped onboard a bus in New Delhi by a gang of men. The attack left her in critical condition, and Nirbhaya succumbed to her injuries in hospital two weeks later. The incident made international headlines, highlighting what The Independent called a rape …

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Dispute between government regulation, high court rulings, and medical associations

Earlier this year the Indian government placed a ban on the prescribing of 344 fixed combination drugs. Deemed “irrational” or “unsafe”, these combinations were ruled to be potentially harmful. Some of these were simple over the counter products; others were available only by prescription. The High Court of Delhi has overturned this ruling, on  the …

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Politicians put differences aside to pass game-changing disabled rights law

The Indian Parliament closed its winter session with the passage of a bill to protect the rights of disabled people in India. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was first tabled in 2014, but has been much longer in the making – five years, according to the Hindustan Times. Replacing the 1995 Persons with …

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Obesity epidemic looms large over India

The obesity epidemic is accepted far and wide as laying the groundwork for a major global health crisis in the near future. Obesity tends to be identified with wealthy countries, such as the United States. However, it also has a pronounced effect on the developing world too, where 115 million people suffer from obesity-related health …

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Two more years of Modi, progress on Healthcare

While demonetisation may now be the predominant feature of the Modi administration, – provoking widespread controversy and criticism – the Indian government under Modi has made some degree of progress in terms of health care. A number of policies and initiatives have been in place in the attempt to improve healthcare in India. Foremost amongst …

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