-Down to Earth The state also has the highest case of malnourished children (43.9 per cent) in India Imagine a dilapidated room, with no plaster on the walls and any doors, window panes — this is what an anganwadi centre (AWC) in Bihar’s Talimpur village in East Champaran district looks like. More, the building has neither a toilet, hand washing facility nor drinking water. “I have to carry chairs, utensils and...

-The Hindu Country needs to double its efforts to control malnutrition Almost one in three Indian children under five years will still be stunted by 2022 going by current trends, according to an analysis of the country’s Food and nutrition security released on Tuesday. Over the last decade, child stunting — which is a measure of chronic malnutrition — has reduced at a rate of about 1% per year, the slowest decline...

  Adolescence is a period when physical and neuro-maturational changes take place in the body of a young girl. Although it is illegal marrying a girl under the age of 18 years as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, adolescent girls in our country are compelled to marry and attain pregnancy that adversely affects well-being and outcomes of both mothers and their children. Latest available data shows that societal norms...

-The Hindu Just as individuals are punished for legal violations, the government of the day must also be punished for the violation of these basic rights. Three thoughts occur to me in the aftermath of the horrific tragedy in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where the systemic failure of health care has killed over a hundred children. First, like the constitutional principle of a basic structure, it is time to articulate an equally robust...

-Down to Earth NEW DELHI: World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified antibiotics into different groups based on their therapeutic efficacy and to curb the increasing risk of superbug infections. It has asked member-countries, including India, to adopt the classification in their health systems to cut the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics are the most sold drugs segment in India with sales of over Rs 1,000 crore. The WHO classification specifies which antibiotics...