-The Telegraph New Delhi: After two decades of practising gynaecology, Arun Gadre decided to turn whistleblower and seek out others like him who could articulate what he says are disturbing practices in India's healthcare system that hurt patients. Gadre, while running a private clinic in Lasalgaon in western Maharashtra, had seen women prescribed hysterectomies without justification, women coaxed into opting for Caesarean sections when normal deliveries may have been possible, patients prescribed...

-The Hindu The failure of successive governments in India, especially those in States that have the highest mortality rates among children younger than five years, to address the critical issue of training health-care providers in rural areas to correctly diagnose and treat children suffering from diarrhoea and pneumonia, has had tragic consequences. These ailments account for the maximum number of under-5 mortality incidence in the country. That the poor management...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A public health expert has questioned the Indian government's commitment to effectively tackling tuberculosis, citing slashed funds, late diagnoses and a failure to curb incorrect or inappropriate prescriptions by many private practitioners. India's plans to eliminate TB as a public health problem by 2050 will remain unachievable without sustained financial support, strong political will and stringent regulation, Mahavir Golechha has said. Golechha is a faculty member with the health...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Faced with the scary prospect of losing lives to simple infections in the future, India is finally waking up to the dangers of reckless antibiotic use. The Indian Medical Association, a pan-India voluntary organization of doctors, will on Sunday launch a nationwide awareness programme on overuse of these live-savers, a practice that has led to emergence of drug-resistant organisms. IMA will also ask fellow practitioners to...

-The Indian Express International experience points to the dangers in moving towards a system of health insurance coverage. Improving government services is the answer. Last month, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan offered a glimpse into the new government's universal health assurance scheme, of which insurance will be an important component. Health insurance is also part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the NDA government's financial inclusion programme. But international experience does...