The Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill is a first step towards granting functional autonomy to the country's nuclear regulator. THE true independence and functional autonomy of the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has been questioned for long. The issue gained further importance in recent months after it was raised in many quarters in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March in Japan. To allay public fears as...

-PTI   A staggering number of around one lakh HIV-AIDS positive people are availing the anti-retro viral therapy (ART) in government medical facilities of Maharashtra, which is the number two state in the country in prevalence of the dreaded disease. Maharashtra, which comes next to Andhra Pradesh in HIV-AIDS prevalence -- accounting for 18 per cent of the afflicted population in India -- has launched a multi-pronged drive to curb the menace, initiating...

Lack of appropriate services at the healthcare facilities led to three maternal deaths in one block of Deoghar district of Jharkhand while seven others died due to lack of back up emergency facilities during delivery and mechanisms to deal with postpartum complications. These maternal deaths were reported from Devipur block between march 2010 and February this year.   A Maternal Death Audit conducted by the Network for Enterprise, Enhancement and Development...

For promising results, renewed commitment of another seven years essential An official review of the Union Government's ambitious National Rural Health Mission has described it as a “minor success”, adding that the results have been heartening compared to past experience in public health programmes. If this promising programme is not to splutter to a stop, a renewed commitment for at least another period of seven years is essential, it says. A report...

-The Telegraph   The Arjun Munda government today unveiled a host of health initiatives for the benefit of villagers, especially expecting mothers and schoolchildren, and flagged off a number of specialised mobile clinics, indicating its seriousness about improving medical standards across the length and breath of Jharkhand. Among the schemes launched by the chief minister at a state health department organised function at Haribansh Tana Bhagat Stadium were a school health programme that...