-Hindustan Times An audit report by the accountant general has blamed lack of health policy to poor management of various government schemes for food, nutrition, sanitation, hygiene, health, education and overall welfare for AES deaths in Bihar. Bihar does not have a health policy and its budget also does not focus on any specific area of attention in health sector despite the scourge of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) for over a...

-Newsclick.in The Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) data, which has either risen or remained stagnant in urban areas raises questions about the condition of the urban health care system. While on one hand, the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been making tall claims about its  Ayushman Bharat scheme, crucial indicators such as Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) are showing a deep disparity. The decline in the government’s expenditure on public...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea that starvation deaths continue to eat into the right to life and dignity of social fabric and a “radical” new measure like community kitchens need to be set up across the country to feed the poor and the hungry. A Bench led by Justice N.V. Ramana issued notice on Monday to the government on the petition filed jointly by activists Anun...

-The Indian Express While the link between suicide and mental disorders, especially depression and alcohol use, is well established, WHO finds that many suicides happen during a crisis and because of an individual’s inability to deal with stress. A fact sheet released by the World Health Organization last week shows that close to 8 lakh people die due to suicide every year. In other words, suicides account for one death every...

-Down to Earth Up to 168,000 people kill themselves by ingesting pesticides annually, it said Pesticide accounted for as many as one in every five suicides across the world, a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on suicide prevention has said. The report titled Preventing Suicide has been published in the form of a resource for pesticide registrars and regulators to educate them on how to prevent suicides due to pesticide consumption. The report...