BUSINESS
Private healthcare suffers trust issues in India, we want to change that: Himesh Joshi, CEO, Ayu Health
About 4,000 patients avail treatment at hospitals that have tied up with Ayu Health every day and the asset-light healthcare company wants to take this number to about 12,000 a day in a year.
TRENDS
India’s most populous states struggling to utilise Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme
Over four years since the launch of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, states with the poorest health infrastructure have seen the lowest advantage to beneficiaries
BUSINESS
Covaxin booster doses effective against variants, shows study
The findings of the study have been published in the high-impact scientific journal Nature.
HEALTH-TRENDS
Private hospitals seek financial aid from government to train more specialists
The number of post-graduate degree and diploma seats in medicine in the country has risen by 78 percent over the past five years. Yet, there is a shortfall of specialist doctors beyond the tier-1 cities.
HEALTH-TRENDS
In Depth | Spadework begins for affordable medicines in India
As concerns grow about the rising unaffordability of drugs in India despite the country’s growing prowess as a pharma manufacturer, the government is looking to rework the way prices of medicines are determined
HEALTH-TRENDS
Political will at the top and community participation at the bottom drove India's COVID-19 vaccination campaign: Dr N K Arora
On July 17, India administered its 2 billionth COVID-19 vaccine dose, 18 months after the mammoth vaccination drive against coronavirus was launched. Of the total doses administered, 51 percent doses were given to women and 71 percent vaccination centres were in rural areas
TRENDS
Monkeypox in India: No need to panic, say experts; call for stepped up diagnostics, preparation with smallpox vaccine
The disease was first discovered in cynomolgus monkeys before being detected in humans in 1970. Prior to 2003, when the first case was identified in the US, it had largely been limited to a few countries in West and Central Africa
INTERVIEW
We are working in top gear to offset derailment of tuberculosis elimination target due to COVID-19: NIRT director C Padmapriyadarsini
The annual TB report shows that India recorded 19 percent more new and relapsed tuberculosis patients in 2021 over 2020. TB deaths, excluding HIV deaths, were 13 percent higher in 2020 compared to the previous year
HEALTH-TRENDS
Health ministry raises alarm on monkeypox as Kerala reports first suspected case
The letter to the states comes on a day, samples were sent out to the National Institute of Virology, Pune from a suspected patient in Kerala
HEALTH-TRENDS
Free COVID-19 booster for all aimed at raising vaccine coverage, using doses nearing expiry
The Union health ministry holds a meeting with states on July 14 to review the status of COVID-19 vaccination and offer free boosters to all adults in a mission mode
TRENDS
Spotlight on high fertility states as India’s population projected to surge ahead of China
The report has predicted that the number of people in the world will cross the 8 billion mark on November 15 and has said that global population growth is at its slowest since 1950, having fallen to less than 1 percent in 2020
HEALTH-TRENDS
Corbevax as booster dose after Covaxin, Covishield? Top panel on immunisation to discuss possibility
Last year, the Union government had paid an advance of Rs 1,500 crore to Corbevax maker Biological E to procure 30 crore doses of the vaccine, which was still in phase 3 clinical trials, in the first such deal to secure a vaccine.
HEALTH-TRENDS
MC Explains | What does the Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill seek to achieve?
Efforts have been on since 2016 to review and update the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules of 1945 as part of an initiative to repeal or amend archaic laws.
TRENDS
Interview I Dengue cases rising as municipal bodies wake up to containment measures too late: Ashwini Kumar of ICMR Vector Control Research Centre
A scientific paper published last year highlighted how dengue has surged in recent years. In 2000, just eight states and union territories had reported dengue cases; by 2019, it had spread to 35 states and UTs, with cases rising eleven-fold.
TRENDS
Can BCG booster dose reduce India’s tuberculosis burden? Top TB research institute plans to find out
The country had planned to achieve the target of zero death due to tuberculosis by 2025. But the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have derailed its efforts to a large extent
HEALTH-TRENDS
Exclusive | Health ministry’s fresh push to central law against assault on doctors
As patient-doctor relationships across India go downhill and incidents of violence against healthcare workers continue to rise, medical professionals renew their demand for a strong law to protect them
TRENDS
MC Explains | CAR-T cell therapy and why it raises hopes of better treatment for cancer
CAR-T cell therapy is approved only for blood cancers and lymphoma as of now, but research is on to understand its usefulness for solid tumours and even auto-immune diseases
INDIA
Centre asks states to ramp up COVID-19 surveillance as cases surge
Active COVID-19 cases in India have been rising for the last 37 days and have now reached 99,602 after falling below 10,000 mark
BUSINESS
Interview | Many telemedicine projects in states suffer quality issues due to low rates: Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth
Thaploo’s team executed a first-of-its-kind tele-emergency innovation in India in PPP mode in Himachal Pradesh, and later scaled it up in partnership with the Andhra Pradesh government by operating and maintaining 195 electronic urban primary healthcare centres.
CORONAVIRUS
Only fully jabbed and asymptomatic people should be allowed in religious gatherings, Yatras, says Centre
A number of states have been showing an uptick in coronavirus cases, mainly due to new subavriants of Omicron
TRENDS
Analysis I US court strikes down right to abortion; what’s the scene in India?
Indian law permits abortion up to 20 weeks of pregnancy and up to 24 weeks in special cases. However, unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal mortality in India, and close to eight women die from causes related to unsafe abortions every day, according to a UN agency report
TRENDS
For the first time ever, Centre sounds out states on inspecting fertility clinics and banks
The recently enacted Assisted Reproductive Technology (regulation) Act categorises fertility centres as level 1 and level 2 clinics, based on the extent of services they provide and ART banks
TRENDS
In Depth | Kickback charges return to haunt India’s drug regulator
Little has changed since a parliamentary standing committee on health indicted the CDSCO in 2013 for the state of drug regulation in India and the manner in which it severely compromises the safety of Indian patients.
TRENDS
Interview I For booster COVID-19 shots, people should rely only on expert advice: Dr Gagandeep Kang
People at high risk will continue to be at some level of risk, even if they are vaccinated or previously infected. Vaccination and prior infection reduce the risk but do not completely remove the chances of getting infected again, says one of India’s leading microbiologists and virologists.
