-The Times of India Hooked to organic food for its supposed health benefits? Here's some food for thought. In the largest analysis of studies till date on organic food, researchers from Stanford University have said there is "little evidence of healthier benefits from organic food over those grown conventionally". The researchers found no difference in protein or fat content between organic and conventional milk. No consistent differences were also seen in the...

-The Hindu The government has appealed to the junior doctors not to link the compulsory government service with guidelines issued by the Medical Council of India as both are different issues. K. Ratna Kishore, Principal Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare, said here on Tuesday that the compulsory government service for one year to all the non-service candidates after completion of PG course was part of the State government policy to improve...

-The Times of India Rural positing for six months will soon become compulsory for undergraduate medical students before they get their MBBS degree with the Medical Council of India (MCI) recently presenting the proposal to the health ministry. At present, an MBBS course of 5.5 years includes one year of internship. However, most of these medical students end up practising in urban settings, refusing to serve the country's rural population. The MCI has...

-The Hindu India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision...

-The Hindu The Planning Commission’s draft 12th Plan for health has attracted much debate and controversy. Critics have been quick to direct their attention at two issues in it — the proposed increase in government health spending from one per cent to 1.58 per cent of GDP, and the “managed care model.” The spending increase was rightly felt to be grossly inadequate to move India towards achieving universal health care. The...