-The Hindu Vaccine’s overall efficacy in a recent trial is ‘lower than expected’ The just concluded Phase IIb (proof-of-concept) dengue vaccine trial against all the four virus types (serotypes) that cause dengue has not only shown an unexpectedly low efficacy of 30.2 per cent but has also challenged many well-established hypotheses and ideas. The trial was conducted in about 4,000 children in the age group 4 and 11 in the dengue endemic district...
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Heard of the ‘Bangladesh shining’ story?-Jairam Ramesh, Varad Pande & Pranjul Bhandari
-The Hindu The country has shown that it is possible to have superior social outcomes at lower per capita incomes and rates of economic growth Bangladesh is very much in the news these days in our country, but for the wrong reasons. In the unfortunate Bangladesh-bashing that seems to have become somewhat of a pastime, we seem to have failed to notice the striking developmental success that it has had in the...
More »A Bill that asks too much of the poor-Jean Drèze & Reetika Khera
-The Hindu Instead of rigid targeting, the government must build on the success of the public distribution system which is quietly becoming a significant means of social support In earlier writings, we have drawn attention to the quiet revival of the public distribution system (PDS) in many States during the last few years. Market prices of PDS commodities — mainly rice and wheat — have sharply increased, giving people a much greater...
More »Stepping up pace on the long road to TB control -Virander S Chauhan
-The Hindu Tuberculosis (TB) has remained a major infectious disease in developing and poor countries despite all efforts from health agencies to manage and control it. In fact, even an easy and effective way to diagnose the disease has remained a challenge. Emergence of drug resistant strains has made its management more complex. The steps It makes the situation in countries like India, with the highest TB burden in the world, even more...
More »Private health care no panacea -Aarti Dhar
-The Hindu India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision...
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