-The Hindu This month marks the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to dramatically improve lives across the world by 2030. This month marks the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to dramatically improve lives across the world by 2030. The SDGs will help countries frame their policies and strategies towards achieving these mutually agreed upon goals and targets. SDG 3, which aims to ensure good...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Faced with complaints of overpricing of medical devices like cardiac stents and implants, the government seems to be finally getting its act together. According to a government official, in a string of measures to regulate the industry under the Draft National Medical Device Policy, it has recommended creating an autonomous body — the National Medical Devices Authority (NDMA) — pricing control for medical devices by including them...

-Economic and Political Weekly The key to improving the quality of healthcare services in India and reducing costs at the same time can be found by enacting legislation which lays down minimum standards of patient care. In the absence of such standards and the reluctance of health insurance companies to standardise either price or quality, healthcare services continue to be expensive and of doubtful quality. Developing standards of patient care by...

-The Hindu Every biomedical and health research involving human participants, whether in conventional areas, or in new evolving specialised fields, will have to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the proposed Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013. Research on human subjects in the specified areas like assisted reproductive technology (ART); organ, tissue and cell therapy; genetic and genomic studies including techniques of genetic engineering and gene therapy; nano medicines;...

-The Indian Express Mining in India has come a long way in the last 50 years or so. From the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1957 to the National Mineral Policy (NMP) of 1993, and now to the NMP of 2008, it has shown a progressive shift towards bringing the private sector into exploration, mining and downstream value addition. However, the regulatory systems perhaps never managed to keep pace with developments on...