-The Indian Express The state Cabinet on Tuesday ratified the draft medical policy, which, among others, proposes a standard treatment guideline covering all hospitals to ensure 'rationale, effective and affordable treatment'. Thiruvananthapuram: In an effort to ensure that all children below the age of five are immunised, the Left Front government in Kerala has made vaccination certificate mandatory for admission to class-I from the next academic session. Health Minister K K Shailaja...

-PTI Mumbai: Doctors in Maharashtra will now have to mention generic names of medicines as against prescribing only a certain brand, giving patients a choice. With a generic prescription, patients can go in for low-cost options for the same medicine. The state government, in a statement yesterday, said as per a decision of the state medical council under clause 1.5 of the Indian Medical Council Regulations, doctors should prescribe drugs with generic names...

-The Hindu Business Line Come November, the Jan Aushadhi initiative completes nine years. But despite its recent achievements, there's more work to be done. PT Jyothi Datta writes Earlier this year, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar vowed to end the “medicine mafia” in the country by opening many more Jan Aushadhi kendras, stores that sell Generic Medicines at affordable prices. Kumar was echoing the mission outlined by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley...

-The Times of India and other agencies WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has promised to bring the cost of prescription drugs in the country "way down" and let other countries pay more for these medicines. If effected, Trump's new policy on prescription drugs, dicussed with his cabinet at the White House on Monday, could have grave implications for India. The US has long had a grouse with India over its patent...

-The Hindu Business Line Policymaking has sensibly shifted away from banning the prescription of brand names More than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired the salvo on getting doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names, the discussion seems to be on a slow burner. From the strident position that all doctors will have to prescribe medicines using their generic or chemical names, there appears to be a more reconciled acceptance...