Will India be witnessing famine on a massive scale by 2050? A lack of groundwater could mean yes. However, switching to a vegetarian diet could stave this off, claims a recent study published in The Lancet. Groundwater sources are being depleting faster than they can replenish. This can be partially attributed to irrigation and sewage […]
Other States
Heatwaves in India continue to claim lives
Two lives have been lost due to the current heatwave sweeping from north to central India. Since late March, temperatures have soared in the region to over 40 degrees celsius on a number of days. These conditions have caused death due to heatstroke, as well as non fatal instances of heat related illness. Worryingly high […]
C-sections on the rise in India: Profiteering to blame?
Caesarean sections are on the rise in India, provoking concerns that doctors are performing the procedure excessively. The rate of caesarean sections in India has risen sixfold in the past twenty years and doubled in the last decade, reports The Wire. “In some states like Telangana, Tripura, West Bengal, Kerala, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil […]
Prohibition: An ineffective policy?
Gujarat’s long-standing policy of alcohol prohibition has taken a knock from the state’s high court. Yet even as justices call prohibition’s effectiveness into question, chief ministers of other states are not being deterred from pursuing similar policies. Dry states India’s constitution says “the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption…of intoxicating drinks […]
Sex determination ban in India and freedom of speech
![Sex ratio at birth. Sex determination ban in India to prevent imbalanced sex ratio. By Melanurya (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i2.wp.com/www.healthissuesindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sex_determination_ban.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Sex determination ban in India and freedom of speech")
A Supreme Court ruling says internet search engines should not be stopped from showing content about prenatal sex determination, only ads. The ruling suggests efforts to restrict prenatal sex determination in order to stymie female foeticide in India are going too far and becoming too intrusive. The ruling comes amidst the continuing and long-standing controversy […]
Few families have health cover in Assam
A new survey reveals that pitifully few families living in the northeastern Indian state of Assam have health coverage, reports the Times of India The latest National Family Health Survey, for 2015-16, reveals that just 10.4% of families living in rural Assam have at least one member covered by health insurance or under a health scheme. This […]
67 percent of rural Punjab households contain a drug addict
Next Sunday’s Sunday Gaurdian has a worrying story about the rising level of drug addiction in Punjab. Here is a striking couple of lines, “three years ago, the state government’s social security department told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that 67% of its rural household had at least one drug addict. The state with highest […]