-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) Healthcare for all, particularly for the rural areas has been a priority for the Government. The health indicators like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), and nutritional status of children under 3 years including prevalence of anemia amongst them and pregnant women in rural area are considerably poor as compared to urban areas. The key health indicators are as under: Public...

-SouthAsianMedia.net Stating that India's health sector is in a "dismal condition", Nobel laureate Amartya Sen yesterday said over reliance on private health sector without the availability of basic public health services would lead to exploitation of vulnerable and under-informed patients. "The state of healthcare is dismal," Sen said while addressing the press conference at the 11th Kolkata Group workshop, which was organised by Pratichi (India) trust. "We are not against private healthcare, but...

-Down to Earth RTI reponse of Union health ministry shows states with better health track record have reported higher number of vaccine deaths How accurate is the enumeration of deaths caused by the five-in-one pentavalent vaccine in India? Reports from different states show information about adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is not very reliable. It would be difficult to reach any conclusion about the efficacy of the vaccine on the basis of...

-The Telegraph India will celebrate three years without a single case of polio caused by the wild poliovirus on Tuesday, but public health experts have said the "endgame" to eradicate polio from the country will begin only next year and might last until 2018. The Union health ministry has planned a celebratory event at a stadium here, inviting India's political leaders, World Health Organisation (WHO) officials, international agencies, and over 1000...

-Tehelka Away from the politics of food security, a small initiative in Assam is changing the way young people look at agriculture. Pubali Saikia, 13, plucks fresh ripe tomatoes, as her classmate Sunti Saikia, 14, arranges beanstalks. The two teenagers are excited; it is, after all, the first produce of their life. Of late, the Titabor sub-division in upper Assam's Jorhat district has been witnessing a silent awakening of sorts. And...