Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has hit out at private hospitals for obstructing the state’s healthcare scheme Swasthya Sathi, allegedly refusing to provide treatment to eligible beneficiaries. Banerjee, who holds the portfolio of Health and Family Welfare in the state cabinet as the Chief Ministership, launched Swasthya Sathi on December 30th, 2016. Swathya […]
health
Will India achieve the SDGs on health?
India’s aim to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Health seems likely to be unattainable by 2030, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said. The main reason it identifies behind this is India’s ability to achieve public health expenditure targets, as the country faces a relative dearth of data […]
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 […]
Andhra Pradesh gives ASHAs a boon
Since assuming the post of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh following this year’s Legislative Assembly election in the state, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy has made healthcare a priority. One action he has taken is a hike in the wages of the state’s community health workers. Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) staff India’s healthcare system in […]
#HealthForPolls: CPI(M)’s vision for health
Elections are less than a month away. So far, the campaign has been fought on the high-pitched war of words over the BJP’s nationalism warcry and the Congress Party’s self-professed ‘surgical strike on poverty’, with a minimum income scheme for farmers’ poll ploy. Amidst all this, Health Issues India is campaigning for healthcare. With an […]
Rahul Gandhi offers his vision for health
Indian election campaigning, induced with clamour over nationalism, has witnessed the first signs of health being included in the political discourse. As India prepares to go to the polls next month, Friday saw Congress leader Rahul Gandhi throw down the gauntlet on health as a poll issue. He pledged to double government spending on health […]
World Sleep Day: How good is India’s sleep health?
When it comes to sleep, how much is enough? And on World Sleep Day, ask yourself: am I getting enough sleep and should I worried about snoring How much sleep you get is important for a number of reasons. Sleep affects a number of different health indicators, from healthier ageing to better weight management to […]
Do leprosy fears in Nepal have implications for India?
Nepal could be inching towards a leprosy resurgence, a decade after it declared elimination of the disease. The situation in Nepal mirrors that of its neighbour to the south. India, too, declared eradication of leprosy. Yet, in recent years, the disease has displayed symptoms of a resurgence. The 2017-18 period saw 90,709 leprosy cases reported […]
What drives India’s diabetes crisis?
Diabetes cases in India are rising. Some studies suggest that it is India’s fastest growing disease. India housed an estimated 72 million cases of diabetes in 2017. This figure is expected to increase considerably to 134 million by 2025. A victim of its own success? The reasons for this rapid increase in diabetes cases are […]
Tamil Nadu rocked by Gutkha scam. What you need to know
The gutkha scam has been making headlines in Tamil Nadu, where senior officials including the health minister have been implicated in a multi-crore corruption scandal involving bribes paid by chewing tobacco companies. Officials stand accused of accepting bribes paid by manufacturers of gutkha, a chewing tobacco mixture which has been banned in Tamil Nadu since […]