Indian-born economist Abhijit Banerjee has been jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, together with French-American economist Esther Duflo and American economist Michael Kremer. Abhijit Banerjee is the second Indian-born recipient of the accolade, after Amartya Sen. “The research conducted by this year’s Laureates has considerably […]
poverty
Homelessness: An Indian crisis
Homelessness is a crisis in India where, despite decades of development positioning the country as one of the world’s largest economies, wealth inequality is present in staggering proportions. In fact, India is the second most unequal country in the world. Its high rate of homelessness stands as a testament to this grim reality. Approximately four […]
The mosque giving free healthcare to Hyderabad’s poor
In a remarkable first, a mosque has transformed itself into a community health centre for the area’s poor. The Masjid-e-Ishaq – a mosque in the Nawab Saheb Kunta district of Hyderabad – is opening up a thousand square feet of space on its ground floor to offer medical treatment to an estimated 1.5 lakh people. […]
India’s first nutrition atlas goes online
India’s first ever nutritional atlas goes live online, thanks to Telangana’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN). An essential tool In an exclusive interview with Health Issues India, Dr M. Vishnu Vardhana Rao of the NIN says he hopes that the atlas will useful to “policy makers, programme managers, researchers, media, students and other stakeholders.” Given the […]
Social caste and genetic disease
Many millions of Indians are descended from groups of fewer than a hundred people. As a result, they are more prone to some inherited diseases, according to a new study described in Nature. India is currently the second most populous nation in the world, with a population exceeding 1.3 billion. In such a large population, […]
Two thirds of female cancer patients from low socio-economic background
In India, when it comes to the rising number of cancer deaths in recent years, it seems poorer women are at greater risk. Two thirds of female cancer patients are from low socio-economic backgrounds. Indian women account for around 30 percent of the country’s cancer burden. The most common cancers in women are breast cancer, […]
Diabetes now the disease of the poor
Diabetes is no longer just a disease of the rich. This is according to a recent study in The Lancet, which says that diabetics are becoming increasingly more prevalent among the urban poor. Using data sourced from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Department of Health Research of the Union Health Ministry, […]