-Live Mint Uttar Pradesh emerges as the state having the worst healthcare indicators in the country Safe child deliveries, the use of contraceptives, and post-natal care for mothers are still largely alien concepts in India’s poorest states, a government survey has found. Uttar Pradesh (UP) emerged as the state having the worst health indicators in the country. The Annual Health Survey (2010-11) to assess the impact of the government’s flagship health programme, the National...

-The Indian Express Government must bring the assisted reproductive technologies bill to Parliament. More stringent regulation could have saved lives Sushma Pandey, just 17 years old, reportedly died due to procedures related to egg harvesting conducted on her by a fertility clinic in Mumbai. Two years after her death, the Bombay high court did well to criticise the police for not prosecuting the hospital for its flagrant violation of the age requirement...

-The Hindu Growing demand for male children, ‘same-caste’ surrogates   Unregulated fertility clinics indulge in medical malpractices, including physical and economical exploitation of women, a study has shown. Shockingly, preference for male children and demand for ‘same caste’ surrogates are prevalent in India. “Some couples, say about 5 per cent, who come to my clinic demand surrogates from their own caste,” says Nayna Patel, of the Akanksha Fertility Clinic in Anand, Gujarat that has come...

A cure for India’s health care ills is within reach provided there is political will In most developed — and many developing — countries today, a 12-year school education and universal health coverage (UHC) are the two primary responsibilities of the state. India has failed miserably on both counts. Let us look at some of the problems of medical and health care: • Fifty years ago, when there was no commercialisation of...

ASHAs will continue to bear the burden of the government's rural health mission as a new order lists more incentive-based services. On May 31, a Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare order listed additional incentivised duties for accredited social health activists, or ASHAs, but was silent on the issue of regularisation of their employment. ASHAs, who bridge the gap between the rural population and the nearest health care outlets under...