The government plans to roll out a nationwide free medicine scheme by November, which will offer quality essential drugs to all the patients in state-run hospitals and treatment centres, a senior Health ministry official said. LC Goyal, additional secretary in the ministry of Health and family welfare, said the scheme would offer 348 essential drugs as well as their combinations to patients. These drugs account for about 28 per cent of...

-The Hindustan Times There is a widespread perception of policy paralysis in the corridors of power. The two remaining years of the UPA's term is still not too short to reverse the current drift, but time is rapidly running out. The damaged economy needs urgent fixing as does restoring the credibility of an executive racked by scandals and the absence of a sense of direction. The people of the country long...

-The Economic Times If Dr Devi Prasad Shetty's vision comes true, most Indians will have access to quality Healthcare. Dr Shetty says the cost of Healthcare in India can come down by 50% in the next 5-10 years, and this will be forced on the hospitals by the government if service providers do not get their act together. "If you are going to say the cost of a heart surgery is...

The Supreme Court has asked doctors to reconsider a strike that began today. The judges said they do not expect doctors to resort to strikes, and have asked them to explain their stand within four weeks. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has asked doctors across the country to skip work in protest against alleged attempts by the government to curb the Association's autonomy.  The Association is opposed to the government's plans...

-The Times of India The Rio +20 summit grabbed much limelight with its focus on sustainable development this month, but a smaller event held in Hungary threw the spotlight on another equally pressing aspect of development: the challenges of urbanisation. The growing footprint of cities could very well determine the future path of sustainable development. The conference organised by the Global Development Network, an international conglomeration of researchers and institutes comes at...