-IndiaSpend.com A new study of the Rajasthan government's Bhamashah health insurance programme for poor households has found that just providing health insurance cover doesn't reduce gender inequality in access to even subsidised healthcare Jaipur: Women from poor households made about 235,000 fewer hospital visits compared to men for seven gender-neutral disease categories between January 2017 and October 2019, a new study analysing a Rajasthan state health insurance scheme has estimated. The Bhamashah...

-Press release by CUTS International dated 5th July, 2021 In a study done by CUTS International under its 4-years  old project -- ProOrganic, almost 97.4 percent of consumers were found to be aware of the fact that chemical input-based food products are harmful for health compared to 86 percent of the same set of consumers way back in 2017. Similarly, the percentage of farmers doing organic farming has gone up to...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...

-The Hindu Business Line The pandemic toll on the mental health of children, including instances of PTSD, has received too little attention “I love my father, but why does he behave like this?” asks a 13-year-old from a slum in Delhi who was sexually abused during the first lockdown. She and her mother were also beaten up often. The mother, a daily wager, was compelled to take the traumatised child with her...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org Poor public infrastructure, unaffordable private medical care and limited access to the state health insurance scheme are pushing Covid patients and their families into long-term debt in Marathwada  Eight days after testing positive for Covid-19, Ramling Sanap died in the hospital where he was being treated for the infection. But it wasn’t the virus that killed him. A few hours before he died, Ramling, 40, had phoned his wife, Rajubai, from the...