TRENDS
Medicines take lion’s share of personal healthcare spending in India, study finds
The Union and state governments may need to focus on non-medical costs and regulate the drug and diagnostic testing market to help reduce out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure
TRENDS
Guidelines meant to stop cross pathy by doctors stir a hornet’s nest
Guidelines drafted by the National Medical Commission are intended to discourage doctors from prescribing medicines that belong to branches of medicine in which they are not trained.
HEALTH-TRENDS
Exclusive | Government proposes over-the-counter sale of 16 commonly used medicines
The government has proposed to introduce an OTC list with 16 medicines but has not described the exclusion or inclusion criteria
TRENDS
Interview I Our model may aid government's targeted healthcare interventions, improve outcomes: Ashoka University
Ashoka University scientists say the ability of the disease modelling system they have developed with Thoughtworks to predict disease progression, prevalence and, in the case of pandemics, the likely caseload and so forth, has far-reaching implications for healthcare interventions in the country.
CORONAVIRUS
Centre asks states to keep an eye on emerging COVID-19 clusters as BA.4, BA.5 detected from random samples
While the BA.4 strain has been confirmed in Telangana and Tamil Nadu, BA.5 has been found only in Telangana so far. Both patients are showing mild symptoms
TRENDS
Delhi firm launches ‘Buy now, Pay later’ option for day-care medical procedures at hospitals
The health tech company says its aim is to speed up the treatment of patients by providing them quick access to funds
HEALTH-TRENDS
Centre alerts states to quickly identify, isolate monkeypox suspects in hospitals
The World Health Organisation says it is working with countries where monkeypox cases have surfaced and others to expand surveillance and to guide them on how to manage the viral disease
CORONAVIRUS
Centre flags falling COVID vaccination numbers in some states; announces campaign to raise vaccine uptake
The ministry has announced that a two-month-long “Har Ghar Dastak 2.0” campaign will be launched in June to accelerate the pace of COVID-19 vaccination coverage and saturate all eligible beneficiaries.
TRENDS
Explained I Why India should worry as monkeypox clusters emerge in Europe and the disease reaches North America
The last time the disease was reported outside Africa was in 2003, when two persons in the US became severely ill but neither died. The infection was tied to imports of pets from Africa
TRENDS
Ayushman Bharat health and wellness centres start delivering services but mental health yet to get its due
States believe that along with rolling out mental health services at primary care centres, efforts to build community awareness also need to be increased, says a newly released government report.
CORONAVIRUS
India’s first case of Omicron subvariant BA.4 detected in Hyderabad
Just a week back the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) had declared BA.4 and BA. 5 Omicron subvariants as ‘Variants of Concern’
HEALTH-TRENDS
Coming soon: India’s first hypertension management guidelines
The Cardiological Society of India has tasked 25 senior cardiologists across different states to prepare India-specific guidelines for various aspects of blood pressure management, which will be extensively reviewed before being released as a national advisory
TRENDS
In Depth | Rajasthan shows the way with first Right to Health draft bill; may have lessons for the country
The bill is aimed at achieving guaranteed access to quality healthcare for all citizens without catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure
BUSINESS
Online diagnostic firms come up with self-regulatory guidelines after court, government raise quality concerns
Some e-diagnostic companies act only as aggregators for multiple laboratories; others are merely technology platforms for self-operated medical laboratories.
HEALTH-TRENDS
COVID-19: International passengers to get booster doses faster but immediate relief unlikely for others
The government is set to allow those planning travel outside India to receive COVID-19 booster doses, as per the requirement of the country they are travelling to
TRENDS
Explainer| Why are doctors at loggerheads with Centre to get NEET PG postponed?
Failing to get any results from appeals to the government to postpone entrance exams to postgraduate courses, several doctors have approached the Supreme Court, which has listed the case for May 13.
TRENDS
Health insurance premium collected in India grew 25% during peak COVID year
The health insurance segment which started in 1985 got a major boost in 2001 with the opening of the sector to private players. From a modest Rs 690 crore of premiums in 2001, the sector grew to Rs 73,300 crore in 2021-2022, a growth of around 106 times
TRENDS
Specialist doctor crisis persists in rural India; no change in last five years despite rising seats in medical colleges
Experts say that specialists, particularly surgical and interventional, require a range of equipment to effectively practise their specialities. When Community Health Centres do not have these infrastructural support, they might be preferring to work in tertiary healthcare facilities where their skills could be more widely utilised and remunerated.
TRENDS
Spotlight on dating apps for role in adding to HIV-AIDS burden in India
Research in many Western countries, including the US and Europe, have shown that there have been spikes in sexually transmitted disease numbers, including HIV-AIDS, as many people use dating apps and sites to arrange casual and often anonymous sexual encounters.
INDIA
Only 59% households use clean fuel for cooking; 19% don’t have access to toilet, shows National Family Health Survey-5
The information collected through NFHS-5 assists policymakers and programme managers in setting benchmarks and examining progress over time in India’s health sector
BUSINESS
WHO estimates 4.74 mn COVID-19 deaths in India in 2020, 2021; nearly 10 times the official toll
As per the UN body, there were 14.9 mn excess deaths associated with COVID-19 by end-2021. The official count of deaths directly attributable to COVID-19 and reported to WHO in that period -- from January 2020 to the end of December 2021 -- is slightly more than 5.4 million. This means that the estimated toll is 9.5 million higher than the recorded fatalities.
HEALTH-TRENDS
Top advisory body bats for typhoid vaccine through Universal Immunisation Programme
WHO estimates that every year, nearly 12 million typhoid cases are reported worldwide, mainly in low- and middle-income countries; India alone reports 4.5 million cases.
BUSINESS
Health and nutrition advocacy bodies call for 'warning' on unhealthy food products
The organisations have recommended that the thresholds for salt, sugar and fats should be based on the WHO-South East Asia nutrient profile modelling and positive nutrients like fruit, vegetable, nuts, and fibre should not be weighted for labelling as these are used for making health claims for marketing
HEALTH-TRENDS
Death registration in India may have been disrupted during 2020 lockdown
The latest report on ‘Vital Statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System’ for 2020 provides an overview of the data compiled on registered births, deaths, infant deaths and still births with rural-urban and sex-wise break-ups based on civil registration records.
