Health issues in India
Doctors’ strikes in multiple Indian states are hitting public and private hospitals alike. A strike by private doctors in Uttarakhand is forcing many patients to turn to government hospitals for treatment. The week-long strike has resulted in public health facilities becoming overburdened by a sudden spike in demand. The issue has come to the attention […]
The Centre’s flagship healthcare scheme – Ayushman Bharat – has faced funding concerns ever since it was announced. A meeting between economists and government officials has done little to allay those fears. Ayushman Bharat – or, to give it its full title, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) – includes provisions to cover the 100 […]
The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Warangal, Telangana is the city’s largest government-run hospital – and it’s in crisis. Shortages of staff and equipment plague the facility. In recent weeks, the situation has forced emergency meetings to be held between hospital officials and Hospital Development Society (HDS) officials. Present included the hospital’s superintendent Dr B. […]
Just days after its launch, the Delhi government’s ‘ambulances on bikes’ initiative has hit a legal roadblock following a suit filed in the Delhi High Court. Seventy percent of the staff manning the bikes – known as ‘first responder vehicles’ (FRVs) – are not trained paramedics, claims the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by petitioner […]
In a bid to make public health a part of national discourse ahead of 2019 elections, Health Issues India is speaking to policymakers and health experts to understand the long-standing issues surrounding healthcare in India and attempt to find solutions as part of its ongoing series, Health For Polls. Today, we are in conversation with […]
The Centre is now under orders from the Delhi High Court (DHC) to promptly roll out a policy to fund treatment of those suffering from rare diseases. Rare diseases, despite the scarcity the name suggests, affect seventy million Indians. Their treatment has been a long-standing issue of contention in India. A draft rare diseases policy […]
The Delhi government has come up with a novel response to India’s ambulance shortages: bicycles. A new initiative will see cyclists ferrying patients through congested areas and narrow lanes on specially outfitted bikes. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain launched the initiative at the Delhi Secretariat, with a fleet of sixteen […]
Ayushman Bharat has reached ten lakh patients since its rollout last year in September, the Centre has announced in the 2019 Budget. The milestone was announced by Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal as he presented the 2019-20 Budget to Lok Sabha MPs on January 31st. He added that efforts are being made to expand access […]
In Delhi, a boy is alive and breathing only because his family is pumping air into his lungs. Three-year-old Farhan is on a manual ventilator for a week as he battles for his life at Lok Nayak Hospital. Farhan suffers from a rare neurological disorder called Leigh syndrome. However, the hospital lacks a spare ventilator, […]
Doctors reacted with anger after a government minister suggested they only work forty hours a week. India’s shortage of doctors often makes their job harder, outraged medicos suggested as they claim to work often double that figure. One doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) stated that doctors sometimes work between 100 and […]
