The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) issued today its first-ever guidance on how to use more than 240 essential medicines for treatment of children aged 12 and below. “To be effective, medicines must be carefully chosen and the dose adjusted to suit the age, weight and needs of children,” said Hans Hogerzeil, director of essential medicines and pharmaceutical policies at WHO . “Without a global guide, many health-care professionals...

Companies that do not set up a sexual harassment complaints committee within their organization can be penalized under sweeping provisions proposed in a draft Bill to check sexual abuse at the workplace. The Bill, cleared by the law ministry and expected to be discussed in the Cabinet by mid-July, also seeks to make false complaints of sexual harassment punishable under service rules. In an effort to cover every working woman...

Umesh Kumar and his wife Satvati Devi were woken in the middle of the night by loud cries coming from the neighbouring house. "She was crying loudly. She was pleading, 'Kill me, but please don't hurt him.' She loved him and they wanted to get married," Ms Devi tells me. Two days after teenage lovers Asha and Yogesh were brutally killed, Swaroop Nagar colony on the north-western outskirts of the...

In a big boost to Public Health System, the government approved hiring of more than 53500 male health workers for all the Sub Health Centers (SHC) in 235 high focus districts from the point of view of disease control. The total costs for providing the male health workers on contract at the 53,544 SHCs in the 235 high focus districts would be Rs. 385.52 crores per year and the central...

In an effort to curb discrimination against minors suffering from communicable diseases, Government is all set to amend an act providing for the care and protection of children. The draft bill to amend the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, seeks to prohibit authorities from sending minor children to mental asylums, and separate treatment for those suffering from diseases such as leprosy and TB. According to the amendments,...