-The Times of India PM Manmohan Singh gave the National Health Mission pride of place in his I-Day speech but a fierce policy row clouds the initiative, highlighting sharp differences over a major policy revamp that includes an ambitious plan for universal health coverage.  Health ministry's unwillingness to pay anything more than lip service to a common health mission for urban and rural areas is a major flashpoint, although not the only...

-The Economic Times India has some of the best quaternary and tertiary care in the world and is gradually acquiring a name for itself even in the field of 'medical tourism'. Secondary care is still a significant challenge, but even in several smaller towns and district headquarters, there is a growing supply of maternity homes and multi-speciality secondary care facilities. At all of these levels of care, given the large disease burden...

-The Telegraph Fareed Zakaria, long thought of by New Delhi’s leadership as the first American secretary of state of Indian origin in the future, fell from grace yesterday when Time suspended his column in the weekly magazine for plagiarism. CNN, where Zakaria is a star Sunday morning international affairs television host, followed suit with a statement that he wrote a blog post on CNN.com “which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post...

-The Pioneer Plans to gag babus in amended Bill The UPA Government is mulling on bringing amendments to the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, which is pending in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha in the last Winter Session without any debate. According to sources, the amendments will dilute the spirit of the Bill by stripping the status of whistleblowers to officials who tried to use Government documents like Cabinet...

-The Times of India In a move that has angered the health ministry, the Planning Commission has asked for reversal of the long-standing public health policy from the 12th plan onwards ending governments' dominant role in providing health services and transiting to greater privatization of the health sector, something along the lines of the 'managed care' system which is followed in the US and Mexico. The health ministry has taken a tough...