-The Hindu Over the last few decades, intellectual property rules have served as a lethal barrier to the right to access healthcare Even an unprecedented pandemic can do little, it appears, to upset the existing global regime governing monopoly rights over the production and distribution of life-saving drugs. If anything, since the onset of COVID-19, we’ve only seen a reaffirmation of intellectual property rules that have served as a lethal barrier to...

The National Food Security Act 2013 guarantees maternity benefit to the tune of Rs. 6,000/- per child by the Central Government for pregnant women and lactating mothers, barring those who are already availing such benefits while being in regular employment with the Central Government or State Governments or Public Sector Undertakings or under other laws. The NFSA 2013 also legally guarantees free meals for every pregnant woman and lactating mother...

-Scroll.in States like Maharashtra and Delhi have requested the Centre to remove the age limit for immunisation. India is currently in its third phase of Covid-19 vaccination where those above 45 years are eligible to get the shots. Public and private hospitals have administered over eight crore doses with most of them accounting for the first dose. But this phase has coincided with the second wave of Covid-19 infections. Three months after it rolled...

-The Hindu Committee on Home Affairs for immunisation of all frontline workers, CAPF personnel A parliamentary panel on home affairs observed that “till now, less than 1% of the Indian population has been vaccinated and at this rate it will take many years to vaccinate whole population.” The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, tabled the report in Rajya Sabha on Monday. Second dose missed “The Committee also expresses...

-Down to Earth While total allocations to Union budget 2021-22 saw an increase of 14.5%, the share for children declined by 10.8% compared to 2020 The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has dealt a serious blow to the Indian economy. The economic slowdown has aggravated poverty, disrupted public provisioning for children’s welfare, exacerbated existing gaps in availability, access and utilisation of services. It has multiplied challenges for children from marginalised communities. Healthcare, nutrition,...