-Economic and Political Weekly Since independence, India's national health policies have been aspirational but the end results have been limited. The National Health Policy 2015, which is in the process of being finalised, should, in place of the earlier "broadband" approach, adopt a "narrow focus" on primary healthcare through the National Rural Health Mission. The latter has focused on primary healthcare and has shown visible results. A slew of suggestions as...

-The Telegraph Regulators in several European countries are suspending marketing approval for 25 generic drugs because of concerns over the quality of data from human studies conducted by an Indian contract research company, a French medical safety agency said on Friday. Drug regulators in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg have decided to suspend the marketing authorisation for the generic drugs after they discovered "irregularities" in documents relating to human studies conducted by...

-The Indian Express The tragedy of several women dying after undergoing sterilisation operations in the Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh has once again thrown up uncomfortable questions around India's population programme. Although the cases are being investigated and the exact cause of the deaths has not been ascertained, the incident brings to light the abysmal conditions in which women are compelled to accept government-provided contraception. India is a signatory to an agreement at...

-The Hindu Continuous monitoring of remedial measures planned in tribal hamlets Palakkad (Kerala): Three days after The Hindu reported that malnutrition continues to stalk tribal children in Attappady, various government agencies have decided to collectively combat the menace by not just ensuring nutritious food and medicines to the affected children but also ensuring continuous monitoring of the affirmative actions. Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) Director P.V. Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday that a meeting...

-The Telegraph   New Delhi: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to allow clinical trials on new pharmaceutical compounds only after ensuring to the extent possible that their potential benefits outweigh their risks and they are needed in India. A bench of Justices R.M. Lodha and Kurien Joseph, responding to a public interest petition by a non-government organisation called Swasthya Adhikar Manch, also told the Centre to ensure that the candidate compounds...