-The Indian Express Beginning May 18, close to 3,000 government nurses from across Chhattisgarh went on strike, for better pay. On June 2, 607 nurses were arrested. With the government promising to set up a committee, the protest was called off the next day and the nurses released. Tikeshwari Sahu was among the protesters. * Since when have you been working? Tikeshwari Sahu: This September, I complete five years working as a nurse....

-The Hindu They matter because they sustain social practices without which human life is neither worthwhile nor indeed possible There is much talk these days about the decline in our institutions. Aren’t they failing to perform, being systematically undermined, even destroyed? On the one hand, people are heard lamenting that our courts are compromised, that our Parliament is dysfunctional, or that our higher education is in a mess. On the other hand,...

-The Indian Express Dr Venugopal, an obstetrician and secretary general of KFOG, said the state's health apparatus showed progress as a result of 'systemic actions' adopted by doctors and government officials. Kochi: Kerala’s superior health infrastructure and its advances in improving delivery care facilities and nutritional level among pregnant women have resulted in further reduction of the maternal mortality rate (MMR) (proportion of maternal deaths per 1 lakh live births) in the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Some major private hospitals like Fortis, Apollo, Medanta and Narayana Health have expressed concern over the government’s ambitious ‘Ayushman Bharat’ fixing prices of some critical procedures, saying the rates are not viable for them. Senior executives from some private hospitals met officials of Niti Aayog and health ministry on Friday over this issue following representations by various industry forums, sources said. “It appears that, overall, no...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre's proposed rates of reimbursement to hospitals for various medical procedures under the National Health Protection Scheme are low and unsustainable and could compromise patient safety, an organisation representing hospitals has told the government. The Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) has said the proposed rates are in general significantly lower than the costs that large tertiary-care hospitals typically incur on medical procedures.     The NHPS, announced...