-Frontline   A Delhi High Court verdict says the State government is bound to ensure that poor and vulnerable sections of society have access to treatment for rare and chronic diseases. SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Mohammed Ahmed Khan looked on helplessly as his father, Sirajuddin, narrated the sordid tale of the loss of four of his children to Gaucher's disease, a rare genetic disease that requires lifelong, exorbitantly expensive enzyme replacement therapy. Sirajuddin, a rickshaw...

-The Hindu     Until activists and patients question approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment, TB will continue to plague us Tuberculosis in India is big: 2.3 million cases, 30,000 deaths, a million missing patients. These terrifying numbers remind us of a continuing crisis - when every TB death is preventable. Behind these numbers are innumerable unheard stories of human suffering - of misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment and lack of access to care resulting in...

-Down to Earth Jan Swasthya Abhiyan sends charter of demands to political parties As elections approach and parties announce candidates' lists, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), the Indian circle of People's Health Movement, is trying to convince all political parties to include health as a prominent issue in their manifestos. After discussing the matter with other civil society members and groups, JSA has sent a charter of demands to political parties. While finalising the demands,...

-The Hindu Not only is tuberculosis not going away, we are now seeing severe forms of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) India accounts for a quarter of the 8.6 million cases of TB that occur worldwide. India also accounts for a third of the ‘missing 3 million TB cases' that do not get diagnosed or notified. Not only is TB not going away, we are now seeing severe forms of multi-drug resistant TB...

-The Business Standard The Congress party's suggested right to health, if implemented, would be a game-changer This is the season for party manifestos with their vague and quite unexciting promises. But in this sea of platitudes, sometimes something stands out that is worth talking about, because, if implemented, it would be a game-changer. For me this is the reported inclusion of the right to health in the Congress party's manifesto. It is well...