-Reuters India's move to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug has set a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms, experts say.  On Monday, the Indian Patent Office effectively ended Bayer's monopoly for its Nexavar drug and issued its first-ever compulsory license allowing local generic maker Natco Pharma to make and sell the drug...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is likely to run into a debate on public health policy after the Planning Commission moved to nix a proposal to include healthcare in the list of public entitlements such as education and food. Central to the proposal—initiated by a high-level expert group (HLEG) headed by K. Srinath Reddy, a leading advocate of preventive cardiology and president of the Public Health Foundation of India—was the...

-Live Mint The Planning Commission’s decision to not include healthcare in the list of essential entitlements such as education and food comes after an expert group recommended exactly the opposite. The group was to evaluate the role of the state as a healthcare provider, and it came to the unexceptionable conclusion that public health infrastructure should be strengthened to provide better and more Affordable Healthcare to all Indians. However, the Planning...

Rajnish, a ninth grader of an English-medium school, wanted a medical certificate to do a bunk from school for some days. When doctors refused to certify he was ill, a quack obliged. The fee: Rs 50 Surajit Ghosh, a construction firm employee, defaulted on his insurance premium for 18 months. While reviving his policy the insurance office asked him to get his medical status approved by a doctor. Help was close...

While higher income levels mean countries have more money to improve women's health, ultimately it comes down to how governments decide to spend the money We know that economic growth and human development do not always go hand in hand, as evidenced by the very different position of countries in per capita GDP rankings compared with human development rankings. But the link between health conditions and economic growth is usually thought...