-Down to Earth   Data taken from 121 health surveys and 36 countries has been analysed Economic growth has little or no effect on the nutritional status of the world's poorest children, finds a study jointly conducted by various organisations. The study was based on child growth patterns in 36 developing countries and has found that economic growth in these countries was associated with small or no declines in stunting, underweight, and wasting-all signs...

-The Hindu     Until activists and patients question approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, TB will continue to plague us Tuberculosis in India is big: 2.3 million cases, 30,000 deaths, a million missing patients. These terrifying numbers remind us of a continuing crisis - when every TB death is preventable. Behind these numbers are innumerable unheard stories of human suffering - of misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment and lack of access to care resulting in...

-Down to Earth Jan Swasthya Abhiyan sends charter of demands to political parties As elections approach and parties announce candidates' lists, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), the Indian circle of People's Health Movement, is trying to convince all political parties to include health as a prominent issue in their manifestos. After discussing the matter with other civil society members and groups, JSA has sent a charter of demands to political parties. While finalising the demands,...

-Financial Chronicle India's independence in 1947 had the great Bengal famine as its backdrop. During the Bengal famine of 1942-43, over three million children, women and men died of starvation. India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, therefore, said in 1947, "Everything else can wait; but not agriculture". This commitment led to the initiation of several programmes in the field of agriculture, such as extension of irrigation facilities, establishment of seed corporations,...

-The Business Standard The Congress party's suggested right to health, if implemented, would be a game-changer This is the season for party manifestos with their vague and quite unexciting promises. But in this sea of platitudes, sometimes something stands out that is worth talking about, because, if implemented, it would be a game-changer. For me this is the reported inclusion of the right to health in the Congress party's manifesto. It is well...