-Livemint.com The 69th meet of the World Health Assembly began with a call to address unprecedented challenges facing the global health sector Geneva: Despite carrying the highest disease burden in the world, the Narendra Modi government chose to send a small delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA) that began on Monday, giving the country little say in the way the global health agenda is being set and inadequately reflecting its priorities,...

-The Indian Express According to Census 2011, there are 364.66 million youngsters in the 10-24 age group, making up 30.11 per cent of the country’s total population. Pune: Suicide was the leading cause of death among youngsters aged 10-24 in the country, with 62,960 such deaths reported in 2013, according to the findings of the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-being that is being launched in London on Tuesday. Road...

-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 Telegraph New Delhi: The Union health ministry will on Thursday launch the third phase of a vaccination campaign to cover an estimated 36 lakh children in 216 districts across India who have never received vaccines or remain partially immunised. The campaign designed to immunise children against seven vaccine-preventable diseases - diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis-B - will focus on areas dogged by irregular or poor routine immunisation...

-The Hindu In the area of intellectual property, public health and access to medicines, the Narendra Modi government should consider its independence to be of the utmost importance. Strong government leadership as well as flexible intellectual property systems are needed in order to effectively combat drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and HIV and also antimicrobial resistance and non-communicable diseases. This is true not only for India but also countries which rely on affordable generic...