We see malnutrition as a burden on our conscience, and on our exchequer. We also know it is a daunting task to get rid of child malnutrition. But do we know about the economic benefits on the other side? A new FAO report tells us that India can increase its national income by a massive US$ 28 billion by eliminating child malnutrition. Now that is serious economic gain so read...

The word ‘hunger’ does not appear in the 12th Plan Approach Paper even once, whereas according to the latest Global Hunger Index Report, India continues to be in the category of those nations where hunger is ‘alarming’. What is worse, India is one of the three countries where the hunger index between 1996 and 2011 has gone up from 22.9 to 23.7, while 78 out of the 81 developing countries...

Prof. Thomas Pogge of Yale University on Tuesday strongly advocated the need for global institutional reforms to eradicate poverty, ensure human rights and secure global justice. He suggested establishing a Health Impact Fund (HIF) to complement the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Prof. Pogge made these observations while delivering the First Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta Memorial Lecture at O. P. Jindal Global University in Sonepat near Delhi. Prof. Pogge said:...

Despite Gujarat's impressive growth rate, the state trails less developed ones like Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam when it comes to malnutition. A new report places Gujarat at the thirteenth position on a list of states based on hunger. “Among the industrial high per capita income states, Gujarat (69.7 per cent children up to age 5 anaemic and 44.6 per cent malnourished) fares the worst in terms of overall...

Economic status, education, access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and the environment determine the level of health of persons, communities or countries, and so does the extent to which rights are enjoyed or denied. The World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, held Oct. 19-21 in Brazil, defined 15 commitments that should be undertaken by governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society.  The final document, the Rio Political Declaration...