If last week’s DNA report on 12 cases of totally drug resistant (TDR) tuberculosis (TB) cases found in PD Hinduja hospital was alarming, there is more reason to worry. The Maharashtra State Anti-Tuberculosis Association affiliated to the directorate of health services at the Centre registered two TDR-TB cases in 2011. Officials from Sewri hospital, one of the largest TB hospitals in Asia, are also getting several TDR-TB cases. While the association lost...

-The Hindu   Maharashtra government will spend Rs. 800 crore on the first phase of a health scheme for the poor, which is slated to benefit nearly 50 lakh families from eight districts, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said at a function here on Wednesday. Under the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana,' any family earning below Rs. 1 lakh per annum can get free medical treatment and care worth Rs. 1.5 lakh...

The Planning Commission has received a sweeping set of recommendations that proposes free health care and medicines for diverse needs to all Indian citizens, irrespective of economic means. Whether or to what extent the proposals — described as “even bigger” than the UPA’s blockbuster job scheme — will be accepted will depend on the political and executive leadership. If the government throws its weight behind the initiative, it will effectively mean...

-The Telegraph   An elderly woman who was brought to a Burdwan hospital today with abdominal pain died of heart attack following a three-hour delay in treatment during which she was allegedly refused admission in the emergency ward and her son forced to cart her across departments, buy a ticket to see a doctor and stand in a queue. After the death of Ulangini Das, who had been diagnosed with gall bladder stones...

-The Hindustan Times   After providing the right to education to underprivileged children in the city, it is time for them to avail their right to health. Delhi has become the first Indian state to bring schoolchildren under such a scheme with the launch of ‘Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna’ on Saturday. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit launched the ambitious scheme under which nearly 14 lakh school children in the city will be provided free medical...