-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Despite liberalization of the insurance sector, only around 21.6 crore people - less than one-fifth of India's population - are covered under health insurance. Even among those who have some form of coverage, 67% are covered by public insurance companies, according to National Health Profile 2015, compiled by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence. The report, which has a separate chapter on health financing, shows despite...

-The Hindu India spends less of its GDP on health than some of the world’s poorest countries’ Every government hospital serves an estimated 61,000 people in India, with one bed for every 1833 people, new official data shows. In undivided Andhra Pradesh, every government hospital serves over 3 lakh patients while in Bihar, there is only one bed for every 8800 people. Union Minister for Health J.P. Nadda released the National Health Profile...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The war against dengue and other deadly mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and chikungunya appears to have been lost in Delhi. While the focus has been on the paucity of hospital beds for dengue patients, no one is asking the real question: what has been done to prevent the outbreak of vector-borne diseases, year after year? Why have things come to this pass? Far from girding...

-The Hindu Rescuing Maternal and Child Health-only systems, which have become under-resourced and have built a very high-cost but low-performance culture, will be a challenging task. Given the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, there is an increasing demand to build health systems that can address these concerns. However, given how large the unfinished agenda of the Millennium Development Goals is, the Indian government has chosen to stay focussed on Maternal and Child...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made public the National Health Policy 2015 Draft for discussion. The draft is more exhaustive and better organised in its coverage compared to the National Health Policy of 2002. It touches upon contemporary issues of concern, including the rapid emergence of chronic non-communicable diseases. From the latest available evidence, issues crucial to tackling chronic illness in India are discussed. Subrata...