![A primary health centre in Thuravoor, Kerala. Strengthening India's primary healthcare infrastructure through HWCS is a core of Ayushman Bharat. (Image credit: Ranjithsiji [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons)](https://i1.wp.com/www.healthissuesindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/800px-Thuravoor_Primary_Health_Center_Main_Building.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Healthcare equipment: The greatest disparity?")
More than 20,000 health and wellness centres (HWCs) are operational across India. HWCs mark a major commitment by the Centre to strengthening primary healthcare infrastructure in the country, coming as part of its flagship health insurance initiative, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or Ayushman Bharat. In the previous year, 20,942 HWCs have become […]
cervical cancer
HPV vaccination saves lives. As we have been reminded again.
New research confirms again what public health experts have long asserted: vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) is an effective tool in reducing the spread of cervical cancer. For India, the news is important. Given the high death toll of cervical cancer in the country, and stalled efforts to roll out HPV vaccination, the finding […]
Urine test a new hope for cervical cancer detection?
There may be new hope in the fight against cervical cancer – a disease that accounts for seventeen percent of all cancer deaths in India – in the form of a urine test. Researchers from the University of Manchester, based in the UK, have found that a urine test could be as accurate as the […]
What the HPV vaccine could do for India – and why it hasn’t been done already
A disease which kills almost 300,000 women a year – including 67,500 women in India – could be all but eliminated by the end of the century if efforts are made to increase access to a lifesaving vaccine according to recent research published in The Lancet. The disease is cervical cancer. The vaccine is against […]
Cervical cancer kills 67,500 women every year. With the HPV vaccine, India can save them.
Experts recommend that girls be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) when they are aged eleven or twelve. If that window is missed, however, the vaccine can still be effective if they get a “catch-up” course when aged fourteen to twenty, US researchers suggest. This could give India pause for thought. The overwhelming majority of […]
HPV vaccine drive for girls in Sikkim
A scheme is underway to vaccinate girls in the northeast state of Sikkim against the human papillomavirus (HPV). The programme is expected to reach 32,000 girls aged nine to fourteen over the next fortnight. They will be administered the first dose of the HPV vaccine in the next two weeks. The second dose will be […]
Cancer screening reach more in Telangana, hence spike in reported cases
This article was originally published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission. By Nimeshika Jayachandran Telangana is seeing a drastic increase in the suspected number of cancer cases recorded in the state, particularly oral, breast and cervical cancers, new data from the National Health Profile shows. Over 9,000 new suspected cases having been recorded in the […]
Bollywood cancer cases shine light on national crisis
Social media is abuzz with reports of two famous Bollywood actors announcing their diagnosis of cancer. The stories have elicited emotional outburst all across the country and again brought to light India’s tough battle with cancer. First Irrfan Khan — star of over fifty Bollywood films and numerous international box office hits — announced in […]
Nearly 200 women a day die from cervical cancer
Approximately 172 women die every day in India due to cervical cancer. According to the Indian Council for Scientific Research (CSIR), more than 63,000 women in India died of the disease in 2015. This is despite cervical cancer being 80 percent preventable, often treatable and having a high survival rate if caught in its early […]
Controversy continues over HPV vaccine and cervical cancer
Controversy continues over the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer in women. Reports suggest India’s health ministry will not include it under the country’s universal immunisation programme (UIP). Estimates suggest 1 in 53 women in India will develop cervical cancer in their lifetime. It is believed 423.2 million women aged fifteen and […]