-The United Nations The United Nations agency at the forefront of the global AIDS response today welcomed new evidence which shows that antiretroviral therapy can help prevent HIV infections.   Researchers from the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies presented the results, which show that in areas where antiretroviral therapy uptake is high, people who do not have HIV are 38 per cent less likely to acquire the virus than in areas...

-The United Nations An estimated 910, 000 lives were saved globally in six years due to guidelines intended to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are protected from tuberculosis, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, releasing an updated policy on joint prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases. TB is a leading cause of death among people living with HIV/AIDS, which weakens the immune system, making those infected much...

Muhammad Yunus, the economist who founded Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, visited Mumbai recently where he spoke to India Ink about his vision of “social businesses,” his forced departure from Grameen and the recent controversies that have dogged micro-finance in India and elsewhere. An edited, condensed version of the interview follows: Q. The microfinance industry has gone through an existential crisis in the last few years. Why did the industry fall from grace? A. See,...

-AFP Later this month, India will be removed from a dwindling list of countries where polio is considered endemic, a huge achievement made possible by people like Madara, a 76-year-old street hawker.  At a temporary immunisation camp in a slum in the northern district of Ghaziabad, 23 kilometres (14 miles) from New Delhi, he is busy at work shepherding boisterous children into queues.  All around, social workers break open tiny bottles containing a...

Goa and Kerala seem to be the best place to be born in India, while Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha are the worst. According to the latest Union health ministry data, Goa recorded the lowest infant mortality rate - 10 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, followed by Kerala at 13. MP recorded the highest IMR at 62, followed by UP (61) and Odisha (61).  MP, which has the highest IMR,...