-India Today In a shocking revelation, the Centre on Tuesday admitted that almost half of India's children are devoid of routine immunisation. While the immunisation in rural areas is around 58 per cent, the figure for urban areas stands just over 67 per cent. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, attributed the dismal rate of immunisation to lack of awareness among parents and non-availability of...

-The Hindu The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana was introduced to provide partial wage compensation during pregnancy, but various issues plague its implementation The latest official figures indicate that India is well short of meeting the Millennium Development Goals that pledged to reduce the country's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters and the infant mortality rate (IMR) by two-thirds. The Sample Registration System (SRS), 2013, records MMR at 167 per 1,00,000...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government's new policy think-tank is set to launch its social sector plans with a scheme for women and children, tracking an expectant mother's first visit to a doctor till the tiny form that has stirred to life inside her completes primary school. Officials said the Niti Aayog, which recently replaced the Planning Commission, had decided on the Aadhaar-based project when it met for the first time this...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Indian government will study 100,000 infants to evaluate a home-grown vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis, released this month amid concerns raised by a paediatrician about the risk of an intestinal side-effect. Doctors from Delhi, Pune and the Christian Medical College, Vellore, will measure -- through what could be India's largest study - any vaccine-associated risk of intussusception, a disorder in which the intestine telescopes into itself and may...

-The Indian Express Universal health coverage (UHC) is at the heart of the government's healthcare agenda. The 12th Five Year Plan targets a long-term goal of UHC where "each individual would have assured access to a defined essential range of medicines and treatment at an affordable price, which would be entirely free for a large percentage of the population". But this year's reduced budgetary allocation raises troublesome questions about its ability...