-The Telegraph   The risk of dying from cancer is nearly the same in rural and urban areas and the highest among the least educated, according to a study described as the first to provide nationally representative estimates of cancer deaths across India. The study, by researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada, and collaborating Indian institutions, challenges a common perception that cancer in India is primarily a disease of urban and educated...

At a time when economic wisdom is seen as lying in allowing unrestrained play of economic power and cutting social sector spending, here is a report emphasising the economic sense in addressing hunger, especially child malnutrition. It also brings out the positive impact of employment guarantee scheme, which has been a thrust area of the UPA government but has seen a cut in allocation in Budget proposals for 2012-13. The report...

-PTI Drinking just one can of soft drink daily may increase risk of heart attack, claims a new Harvard study but experts in India are sceptical about the findings even as they agree that excess consumption of such beverages is dangerous for health. The study, which surveyed over 40,000 men in the US for over a period of 22 years, found that taking just one sugar- sweetened drink a day increase the...

We see malnutrition as a burden on our conscience, and on our exchequer. We also know it is a daunting task to get rid of child malnutrition. But do we know about the economic benefits on the other side? A new FAO report tells us that India can increase its national income by a massive US$ 28 billion by eliminating child malnutrition. Now that is serious economic gain so read...

Health is a state of mental, social and physical well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. To achieve this noble objective, India requires health care professionals who are trained in institutions with standardised infrastructure, and the availability of accessible and equitable health care for both the rural and urban populace. Recently, the health sector has been in the news — from the creation of a rural based...