-The Hindu Doctors say there ought to be an audit of C-section deliveries in private and public health facilities In its new guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the elimination of the so-called ‘one-centimetre-per-hour’ benchmark — a rule of thumb that obstetricians use to determine whether a delivery requires surgical intervention. This is to counter what the body calls a “surge” in interventions such as caesarean sections that could...

-The Hindu Experts fault anaemia among women in child-bearing age and poor sanitation Chennai: Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is high among under-5 children at 8% in Tamil Nadu, according to the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) data released in 2017. Defined by a very low weight-for-height and by visible severe wasting, or by the presence of nutritional oedema (swelling of feet, for example), according to the World Health Organization (WHO), SAM incidence among...

-Down to Earth A study conducted in public health centres in Uttar Pradesh shows complying to essential childbirth practices did not significantly alter maternal and perinatal mortality & maternal morbidity Despite improvements in the quality of care during labour and delivery, checklists and coaching interventions failed to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths during childbirth, shows a study published on December 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was conducted...

-Livemint.com India continues to have the highest number of tuberculosis cases in the world, the Global TB Report 2017 released by WHO reveals New Delhi: India continues to have the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world, the Global TB Report 2017 released by World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday revealed. In 2016, there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide. Seven countries accounted for 64% of the total...

-Livemint.com A 2014 NSSO report shows that the majority of Indians prefer to consult private practitioners rather than public hospitals and those who do visit public hospitals often do so out of compulsion First it was Gorakhpur. Now it is Farrukhabad. The death toll in Uttar Pradesh’s government hospitals—from what appear to be preventable causes—has been mounting over the past month. Similar incidents have been reported from other states, pointing to the...