-TheWire.in The Union government, cut off from the realities of the vast diversity of health and poverty conditions of the country, appears to have bitten the bait of corporate lobbies. Madhu Soren (12) and Bokai Soren (7) are two brothers with thalassemia in a village in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district. Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder in which the body has lower than normal amounts of haemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein. When there is...

-Down to Earth Poor financial conditions, reliance on public distribution system among factors that drove change, reduced dietary diversity  There has been a dietary shift among the Bhil and Bhilala tribes of Madhya Prasesh’s Alirajpur and Jhabua districts over the years. Loss of dietary diversity, including little or no consumption of meat, as well as a change in their staple cereal, may impact the health and erode traditional knowledge of the tribals...

-TheWire.in * According to the Union health ministry’s new Rural Health Statistics report, for 2020-2021, primary health centres have a surplus of doctors. * This could be true – although there are doubts about whether the report included the number of doctors on transitory, ad hoc appointments as well. * The report fails to capture the qualitative aspects of doctors’ availability at PHCs, including a hidden problem motivated by the absence of sufficient...

-The Telegraph ‘Rough and tough’ alert to private hospitals Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said in no uncertain terms that her government would act tough against private healthcare establishments who refuse to accept Swasthya Sathi cards of the healthcare scheme she had launched ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls. “State government officials have been asked to act rough and tough if any hospital refuses Swasthya Sathi cards. If anyone refuses Swasthya Sathi cards, the...

-TheWire.in South India has a higher rate of diabetes compared to North India, possibly due to its partiality towards white rice, which has a high glycaemic index. At a healthcare clinic in Thodathara, a village in the Thavanampalle mandal near Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, Dr Vijay Kumar calls in his next patient. “He is the most disciplined man I know,” Dr Kumar says with a hint of pride. Reddyappa Reddy walks in and takes...