-The Hindu Vaccination is important to prevent a second wave Several people have questioned the emergency approval given to the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine. They have demanded efficacy data and cast aspersions on the regulatory machinery. Such views will only increase vaccine hesitancy. It is not the case that the vaccine developed indigenously is being pushed by vested interests, while the international vaccines are great. Questions have been raised about the Moderna and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Vitamin-D deficiency is leading to increasing incidence of obesity and diabetes among Indian women, according to a study in British Medical Journal (BMJ). Findings of the cross-sectional population-based study shows that 68.6% women in India are vitamin-D ‘deficient’, whereas almost 26% have been marked ‘insufficient’. Only 5.5% of women in the country have the vitamin in sufficient amount. The study has been conducted by researchers from...

-The Hindu Business Line The Ayushman Bharat programme must aim to reverse poverty caused by healthcare expenses The state of India’s healthcare system is somewhat dichotomous — the country is a global supplier of life-saving, affordable and good quality generic medicines, yet lakhs of families are driven into poverty because they are forced to spend much of their earnings and savings on medications to treat chronic and life-threatening diseases. The poor, particularly,...

-The Hindu If regulation goes to plan, the Indian consumer will no longer be in the dark about sodium content in food products. Indian adults consume between 8.5 grams and 15 grams of salt each day as against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation of less than 5 grams per day to reduce blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, says a September 2012 paper in PLOS ONE. According to the President of the...

-The Times of India Dr David Berger, director of the British Medical Journal group and a general physician practising in Australia, is better known in India for an article he wrote in the BMJ in May last year titled 'Corruption ruins the doctor-patient relationship in India' based on his experiences of working in India. The article sparked a public debate on the widespread corruption in India's healthcare sector. Here now on...