The United Nations has launched a worldwide campaign to enhance the safety of 1 million schools and Hospitals, where poor construction, an absence of safety drills and lack of emergency equipment can lead to the highest death tolls during earthquakes and other disasters. “Making sure that schools, Hospitals and other key public infrastructure meet certain safety standards are key steps to ensure that natural hazards do not turn into disasters,” Secretary-General...

Tens of thousands of Indian women and their families will have access to quality maternal and child health-care services thanks to a partnership announced today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a chain of small Hospitals in India for low-income clients. LifeSpring Hospitals has signed up to the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a UNDP supported global initiative challenging companies to apply their business expertise, technology and innovative...

With 130-140 million Indians likely to move to cities in the next decade and an equal number in the one after that, the development of urban India represents the biggest challenge you can think of -- in the next two decades, India will have to create as many new cities as it created in the last several hundred years. Alternately, the existing cities which are home to around 285 million people...

The Facebook page on the Right to Information challenges the government with some provocative questions. “We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does this money go? Why are there no medicines in the Hospitals? Why are people dying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Why are...

Assam today became the first state in the country to enact a legislation that seeks to ensure right to health for every citizen. The Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, which was unanimously passed in the Assembly today, makes it mandatory for all Hospitals, both government and private, including nursing homes to provide free health care services, maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment, for the first 24 hours to an emergency patient. During...