-The Hindu India’s UIP will now be able to provide free vaccines against 13 life-threatening diseases to 27 million children annually India has made huge strides as far as public health achievements are concerned, made possible by the use of safe and effective vaccines delivered through quality programmes. For example, small pox was eliminated in 1975, polio in 2014 and maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in August 2015. While India has shown its...

-The Hindu Despite a mountain of evidence testifying to the huge toll of suicide in our youth and the knowledge of effective interventions to prevent suicide, there remains no coordinated effort to address suicide as a public health issue in India. The recent suicides of three young women students in a medical college in Tamil Nadu citing the appalling conditions in their institution add to the mounting toll of suicides among young...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The health ministry has chalked out an overarching National Multi-Sectoral Action Plan with the aim to reduce premature deaths from cancer, diabetes and heart diseases by 25% in the next 10 years (by 2025). The plan, which includes initiatives and measures from at least 27 government departments including ministries like environment, women and child development, urban development, industries etc, is in the final stage and...

Although there is sufficient data and evidence available in the public domain to argue whether there has been halving of poverty between 1990 and 2015, the same cannot be said with conviction about the halving of hunger—one of the targets set under the erstwhile Millennium Development Goals framework (replaced recently by SDGs). This is because the recently released data by the National Family Health Survey-4 (conducted in 2015-16) and the...

-The Times of India • ​States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are already using some of the fortified products. • According to health experts, more than 50% of Child mortality under five years of age can be attributed to malnutrition. In a concerted effort to tackle under-nutrition in the country, the goverment is planning to provide fortified food products like wheat, rice, salt, and milk in schools' midday meal and...