Indian health officials have struggled to allay domestic concerns about dengue fever even as the country scrambles to finish construction projects in time for the Commonwealth Games, which will take place here in less than a month. India is expecting 8,000 athletes and team officials from 71 countries and territories for the games, which bring together nations that were formerly part of the British Commonwealth. Delays and allegations of corruption have...

Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas near the Yamuna river in the Indian capital, Delhi. The city is battling renewed flood fears as water levels in the Yamuna have crossed the danger mark. Incessant rainfall and release of water from the Hathnikund barrage upstream in Haryana state have raised the level of the river, officials say. In late August too, the river touched the danger mark after days of heavy...

The national capital on Thursday reported 68 new dengue cases, taking the total number of patients in the city to 1580. The city has recorded over 350 dengue cases in the last five days. There were four dengue deaths in Delhi this season. During the same period last year, the number of the vector-borne disease in the city was only 12 while it was 160 and 26 in the corresponding periods in...

Sustained improvement in disease control programmes, specially tuberculosis, and perceptible improvement in rural health care are the highlights of the UPA-II's report card in the health sector. In the 'Report to the People' released here today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the government said, during 2009-10, more than 36,000 village health and sanitation committees were set up, over 1,300 facility-based Rogi Kalyan Samitis were formed and over 53,000 accredited social...

Brazil and India are now among the top five government supporters of research into third-world diseases, according to a study issued last week, which found that middle-income nations are taking on more of the burden of ills afflicting their poorest citizens. The study, by the George Institute for International Health, based in Australia, found that nearly $3 billion was spent last year on new drugs or products for such diseases. Brazil...