-Economic and Political Weekly While the Supreme Court decision in the recent Novartis case has cleared the way for production of generic drugs in India, doctors have to prescribe cheaper alternatives to costly brands if patients with limited means are to benefit. What is being hailed as a victory in the struggle for affordable medicines in the country will actually be one only when there is a pro-patient slant to the...
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Shortage of MTP pills, thanks to tighter norms of Food and Drug Administration -Pratibha Masand
-The Times of India MUMBAI: Bhavin Dave was married for six weeks when his wife realized she was pregnant. Both rushed to a doctor, who said the best way to deal with the unplanned pregnancy was to use a medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) drug. She prescribed the pills and that was when their ordeal began. Bhavin (name changed) scrambled from pharmacy to pharmacy with the prescription, but to no avail. He...
More »NGO's Efforts Help Raise Vulture Population in Hazaribagh
-Outlook Hazaribagh (Jharkhand): A non-governmental organisation's persistent efforts to stop prescribing diclofenac medicine by veterinary doctors to treat illness in cattle has helped increase vulture population in Hazaribagh. Thanks to the efforts, the population of vulture, declared an endangered species worldwide, to jump five fold in this forested region. From a mere 60 or so, the vulture population in Hazaribagh has climbed to 300-plus, the convenor of the NGO Neo-Human Foundation, Satya Prakash,...
More »National scheme for free medicines for all sought
-The Hindu The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan on Monday called upon the Union Government to extend free medicine supply scheme, presently operational in a few States like Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, all over the country to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure of common people on health care. Such a scheme would especially benefit the patients deprived of any kind of treatment due to poverty. In a letter addressed to Union Health & Family Welfare Secretary...
More »Patients lose out to patents & profits -Deepa Kurup
-The Hindu A 2012 WHO study ranks India third — behind Myanmar and Bangladesh — among countries that fail to provide health cover to people. A 2011 study reported in The Lancet on ‘Healthcare and equity’ confirms this: every year, at least 39 million people here fall into poverty due to private out-of-pocket health expenditure. A vast majority of Indians do not have access to healthcare or essential drugs. By the...
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