One of its fastest-growing sectors, India’s healthcare industry is expected to cross the US$372 billion mark by FY 2022. Increase in private investments since the government allowed cent percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in medical devices is seen as one of the policy decisions strengthening India’s dream of having a niche in quality care delivery. […]
Opinion
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 […]
AYUSH Ministry proposes Ayushman Bharat additions
Ayushman Bharat has recently celebrated the first anniversary since its launch. While controversial in some states, the scheme has drawn praise both at home and abroad and allowed medical services to be availed by tens of lakhs of Indians across the country. The AYUSH (Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Ministry has proposed […]
The Auli VIP Wedding is over. Who will manage the waste crisis?
The picturesque hill station of Auli in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand is battling the aftereffects of a grand Indian wedding. Weeklong celebrations have turned the town into a dump yard with forty quintal (4,000 kilograms) of garbage. The town is paying the price for wedding grandeur worth Rs 200 crore. After the wedding celebrations […]
Public health infrastructure in Bihar is in the ICU
The recent tragic deaths of over a hundred children in Bihar has put the spotlight on the ailing public health infrastructure – both in the state and in the country. The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Centre and state governments over what it has termed “deplorable public health infrastructure” and reminded […]
Ill health is killing more Indians than terror. Time to change priorities?
Ill health deaths: 97 percent. Terror deaths: 0.007 percent. Let us first take a moment to digest the headline. “The two issues that took significance and helped the BJP return to power were national security and Hindu nationalism, with claims that both are under threat by unforeseen powers. The reality is different: people are dying […]
Save the Children gives India its scorecard on child health
“Basic education links the children, whether of cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in us.” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi This sentiment – that being the centric role played by children in their country’s future – has been laid bare in the latest report released by Save the Children in […]
World Environment Day highlights a health crisis
World Environment Day is observed annually on June 5th to commemorate the importance of conserving our environment from the many threats it faces. For India, World Environment Day offers a valuable opportunity to recognise one of the major issues confronting the nation: its poor environmental health, ranked as the worst in the world in the […]
Hearing-impaired children struggle to be heard
When it comes to helping deaf children live with their condition, devices such as cochlear implants are only the first step. According to experts, helping children with hearing impairment learn to live with their conditions and the effect of these implements is just as important. Exact figures as to the number of people living with […]
60,000 tonnes of waste: The Kumbh Mela effect
When 240 million people took a dip in the mighty Ganga river during in Prayag between January 4th and March 14th this year, it should have been a clean exercise if officials were to be believed. With a whopping budget of Rs 4,200 crore allocated to organising the festival, the BJP government claimed that it […]