Ignoring widespread concern over the safety, efficacy and cost of pentavalent vaccines, India’s central health ministry has, this month, approved inclusion of the prophylactic cocktail in the universal immunisation programme in seven of its provinces. Pentavalent vaccine doses, a cocktail of five antigens in a single shot, confers immunity against five paediatric diseases - diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), with the last one considered particularly...
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Mid-day meals: Centre asks States to adopt A.P. fund model by Aarti Dhar
With some States defaulting on payment of their share of funds for providing meals to children in government schools, adversely affecting the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Centre has now asked all States to consider adopting Andhra Pradesh's model ‘Green Channel Scheme.' The A.P. model makes funds available throughout the year. “All States and Union Territories may take the lead from Andhra Pradesh and streamline the release of funds,”...
More »Maharashtra wakes up to growing urban malnutrition-Meena Menon
Rising trends in malnutrition among children under six here and in other cities have prompted the Maharashtra government to introduce an Urban Malnutrition Mission from next month, official sources said. A quarter of children below six years in the city weighed at anganwadis are underweight, according to the latest monthly progress report (MPR) of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Non-governmental organisations point to a severe crisis of primary health...
More »ADB urges Asia to tackle rising income gap
-AFP The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Monday urged regional governments to tackle rising income inequality with more urgency, warning any delay could undermine social cohesion and economic growth. Rajat Nag, ADB's managing director-general, said failing to address the problem now could spark further dissatisfaction and lead governments to resort to populist measures to appease their citizens. But populist measures like fuel subsidies and cash grants are taxing on state coffers and could result...
More »Public goods as the way to welfare-Pulapre Balakrishnan
There is evidence to show that growth is slowly becoming inclusive. But for the quality of life to improve, incomes must be complemented by infrastructure. For close to at least five years now inclusive growth has had a central place in the official discourse on the economy. The UPA II has itself worn its self-proclaimed success in delivering an inclusive growth as a badge of its effectiveness, not to mention its...
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