Japanese encephalitis — a form of brain fever — has hit the state capital and its neighbouring areas. At least 10-12 cases of the disease are being reported at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) daily over the past few days. Dr Nigam Prakash Narayan, a senior doctor at the paediatrics ward of the hospital, said: “About 250 patients of encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital so far. Of them,...

The popular outrage over the official definition of poverty at abysmally low levels of daily income, of Rs 26 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas, assumes the state will deny basic services to a household whose income is above the figure. This is totally erroneous. There is no mechanism in the hands of the government to ascertain income or expenditure to identify the 'poor' on the ground. The...

-ANI   Expressing concern over the excess female and Infant Mortality Rates in various states of the country, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that economic growth does not necessarily translate into gender equality.  "Economic growth does not automatically ensure gender equality. In fact, it is a very tenuous relationship between and I have something to say about this in the Indian context, but I think it is a very salutary finding...

India has markedly improved the access of girls to education, besides bringing down fertility and Infant Mortality Rates, but the World Development Report 2012 on ‘Gender and Development’ issued warnings on other fronts—women’s labour participation rates remain stagnant and domestic violence is alarmingly high. The report, launched on Thursday at the World Bank, also highlighted high rates of domestic abuse and their relationship to reproductive health apart from high maternal mortality...

There are fears that curative health care will be left to the private sector, while the public system will handle preventive and low-quality care. AN issue of The Lancet earlier this year highlighted some of the problems with public health in India, acknowledging that “it is in crisis”. The robust economic growth over the past 20 years has not translated into better health indices; indeed the decline of infant and child...