India spends more on programs for the poor than most developing countries, but it has failed to eradicate poverty because of widespread corruption and faulty government administration, the World Bank said Wednesday. “India is not getting the ‘bang for the rupee’ that its significant expenditure would seem to warrant, and the needs of important population groups remain only party addressed,” John D. Blomquist, lead economist at the World Bank, wrote in...

Progress has been made on key MDG health targets, but non-infectious DISEases have spread to developing countries The world is experiencing a change in the geographic distribution of DISEases. Traditionally, infectious DISEases, which claim the lives of so many children, have affected poor countries and non-communicable DISEases, such as diabetes, cardiac ailments and cancer, have plagued rich countries. But the latest statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday show...

-The Telegraph   Smoke from cigarettes, diesel and burning trees contains a chemical similar to the gas that had leaked from a pesticide factory in Bhopal in 1984 and has been implicated in heart DISEase, cataract, and rheumatoid arthritis, US scientists said today. The researchers who developed an instrument to measure gaseous acids in the atmosphere have found traces of the chemical called isocyanic acid that is produced during the burning...

-The Economic Times   China has outperformed India in tackling the "double-burden" of DISEases that includes infectious DISEases affecting the poor on the one hand and chronic lifestyle ailments typical of fast urbanisation on the other, a WHO report has said. While India's life expectancy has shot up to 65 years in 2009, up from 61 years in 2000, China has improved the same to 74 years during the last 10 years. Besides,...

Recently released data on infant deaths across states in India has thrown up surprising results, leaving health experts puzzled. Average infant mortality rate for the country as a whole stood at 50 in 2009, down by 30% compared to a decade ago. The rate is much higher than developed countries but the pace at which it is declining is encouraging. But the surprises lurk in state level data. Three states -...