-The Indian Express Universal health coverage (UHC) is at the heart of the government's healthcare agenda. The 12th Five Year Plan targets a long-term goal of UHC where "each individual would have assured access to a defined essential range of medicines and treatment at an affordable price, which would be entirely free for a large percentage of the population". But this year's reduced budgetary allocation raises troublesome questions about its ability...

-The Hindu Millets in one's diet can help prevent diabetes,says Dr. Vijay Viswanathan Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder in which a person has high blood glucose (sugar), either because of inadequate insulin production, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Prolonged exposure to diabetes damages important organs like the eye, the kidney, the heart and nerves, as the result of damage to small blood vessels. Heredity,...

-Outlook New Delhi: The air quality in the national has deteriorated significantly and experts identified burning of agricultural wastes in neighbouring states as one of the major contributors to a visible haze over the city. As per official data, the air quality in the city has slipped into the category of "poor" following rapid increase of PM2.5 (respirable particles) level. The Air Quality Index value, calculated on the basis of PM 2.5 level,...

-The Times of India Even as tuberculosis (TB) continues to haunt the world, a new study has revealed that funding for research and development of new drugs to fight the disease is floundering. Private sector funding has declined by more than a third since 2011 as pharma companies are closing their TB research programmes. Pfizer shut down its TB drug discovery programme in 2012, AstraZeneca in 2013 and Novartis in 2014. Meanwhile,...

-The Hindustan Times Gurdaspur (Punjab): Punjab, known for its sprawling agricultural fields, is equally famous for burning of paddy and wheat straw by farmers after the harvesting season. The smoke released from burning of paddy straw is extremely bad for health. "Each year, the agriculture department spreads the same message highlighting the ill-effects of straw burning in the fields, but farmers rarely pay heed to it. Burning of straw causes severe harm...