July 1st marked Doctors’ Day – and while the occasion was an opportunity to thank the medical professionals who work to ensure good health, it also was a bitter reminder of the public health crisis India is facing. The government has put a figure to the mammoth medical staff shortage India is battling. The new […]
Gujarat
E-cigarettes to be banned in Gujarat?
Gujarat is moving to join the Indian states where e-cigarettes and similar devices are prohibited. The state government is preparing to ban electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in an impending Legislative Assembly session due to begin July 2nd. Justifying the move, Minister of Home Law and Justice Pradipsinh Jadeja said “we have observed a disturbing […]
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 […]
When voters boycotted polls because of water scarcity in Gujarat
In Gujarat last month, voters turned to the polls to protest water scarcity in the state – by sitting them out entirely. The 17th Lok Sabha polls in Ahmedabad was the scene of fanfare on April 23rd, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote in this year’s elections. However, elsewhere in the state, many […]
Dust storms rear their head again, fifty killed
Dust storms and heavy rains have again swept across northwestern India, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Numerous lives have been lost in the disaster, which came almost a year after similar high-velocity storms killed more than 127 people in northern parts of India. Almost fifty fatalities have been reported from four states according […]
India’s water woes are bigger than you think
It is not even summer season and great swathes of India’s land are suffering from drought, recently published data reveals. This is according to an IndiaSpend analysis of figures from the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS), which contains dire implications for an enormous number of Indians and a sizeable proportion of the country’s land. At […]
A father’s fifteen-year fight for a drug for his daughter
After fifteen years, a father has won a legal battle over medical expenses he paid to treat his daughter’s genetic condition. The Gujarat High Court has ruled in favour of Harshadkumar Pandya, an assistant teacher in Rajpipla, whose daughter was born with Silver-Russell syndrome, a form of dwarfism. Fifteen years back, on the advice of […]
Modicare begins on September 25th. Here’s what we know so far.
The BJP government’s large-scale health insurance initiative was rolled out in some states today, to coincide with Independence Day celebrations across the country. Though some anticipated a full-scale launch of the programme, the scheme was not launched nationwide but began a gradual rollout in select states. Full rollout of the scheme is expected on September […]
Leptospirosis and the Indian efforts to bring about a vaccine
Indian scientists at the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) may be fast approaching a cure for leptospirosis. Also known as Weil’s disease, leptospirosis was responsible for over one million infections in 2015. Indian scientists working on the vaccine, however, believe almost all of these cases could have been preventable. Leptospirosis is typically the name given […]
Children standing in as Bal doctors in Gujarat
Gujarat has employed an eccentric new tactic in response to mass shortages of medical staff across the state. The state is using children, some as young as eleven, as stand-in Bal doctors within schools, complete with stethoscope and doctors outfit. The plan may seem an absurd coping mechanism to shortages of doctors. However, the basic […]