-Live Mint The Sonia Gandhi led-National Advisory Council (NAC) on Friday formed a working group on universal health coverage for phasing-in the roll-out of the proposed scheme in the 12th Five-Year Plan period. Meanwhile, differences persist between the health ministry and the Planning Commission on the role of insurance and the private sector within the universal health coverage (UHC) plan. Health ministry and Planning Commission officials presented their views to the NAC on...

-The Indian Express A little over 11 years ago, when the Congress defeated the Asom Gana Parishad and Tarun Gogoi took over as chief minister of Assam, people had their doubts. Would this man who had spent most of his political career since 1971 as a Lok Sabha member be able to run this state? The state, with its unique tangle of ethnicity and politics, has, after all, always been a...

-The Times of India After spending around 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) on health in the past five years, the government is proposing an increase in public spending by half a percentage point to make it 1.58% for the coming five years (2012-17) under the 12th Plan.  This is what the draft chapter on health in the Plan document says. Health experts and activists are up in arms at this meagre...

-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...