Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has touted India’s progress in reducing deaths due to tuberculosis (TB), with a nineteen percent reduction in TB mortality since the beginning of the decade. Affirming the Government’s commitment to eradicating TB by 2025 – five years ahead of global targets to reduce TB incidence by eighty percent and […]
Harsh Vardhan
Rajya Sabha MPs approve e-cigarette ban
The Government of India’s ban on e-cigarettes has won the approval of Rajya Sabha MPs, who passed legislation prohibiting the devices earlier this week amidst appeals over their negative effects on public health. The upper house of the Indian Parliament passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and […]
Vardhan speaks out against HIV/AIDS discrimination
Sunday marked World AIDS Day and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan utilised the occasion to speak out against discrimination against those affected by HIV/AIDS. “Let us shun any kind of discrimination in our thoughts, actions and behaviour in our interaction with those who have HIV and AIDS,” the Minister said. “Let us do away […]
MPs give nod to vaping ban
Parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha gave their nod to the Centre’s decision to ban e-cigarettes, even as some lawmakers expressed concerns about continued tobacco use in the country. The Government of India issued an ordinance earlier this year prohibiting electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) from being produced, manufactured, distributed, imported, exported, stored, sold, and advertised […]
Vardhan emphasises universal health coverage in the quest to meet Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) necessitate that universal health coverage be achieved, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has asserted. “Universal health coverage is key to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 agenda and to which India is firmly committed,” the Minister said at an event in New Delhi earlier this week. “Access to medical products […]
Organ donation a must: Senior figures
Senior government officials have spoken out in recent days about the importance of organ donation in India, a country sorely lacking donors. The issue has been highlighted by both Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Vice President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu. An estimated one million people in India are experiencing end-stage organ failure, yet just […]
E-pharmacy regulation on the cards as ministers meet
E-pharmacy regulation is being discussed by ministers as the industry grows by leaps and bounds in India. The sector, which accounts for between two and three percent of the US$20 billion pharma market in India at present, is expected to grow sevenfold by 2022 when it is expected to be valued at US$3.7 billion compared […]
A digital health blueprint for universal healthcare
Dr Harsh Vardhan has urged stakeholders to work towards implementing India’s digital health blueprint in order to facilitate a digital health economy. “[The] Government of India is committed to ensuring high quality healthcare, accessible to all upto the last mile,” said Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Science and Technology. “The digital […]
Lymphatic filariasis: Can India eliminate it?
At the beginning of October, the island nation of Kiribati announced that it had eliminated lymphatic filariasis. By 2021, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has pledged that India will do the same. What is lymphatic filariasis? Lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis, is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that attacks the lymphatic system. It is caused […]
Nanopharmaceuticals: A regulatory framework
The Centre has moved to lay down the law on nanopharmaceuticals, with the release of guidelines at the end of last week to promote them and ensure they are regulated on par with other medicines and medical products. The ‘Guidelines for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India’ were jointly prepared by the Department of Biotechnology under […]