With 80 per cent of the world’s people lacking adequate social protection and global inequalities growing, top United Nations officials are calling for a new era of social justice that offers basic services, decently paid jobs, and safeguards for the poor, vulnerable and marginalized. “Social justice is more than an ethical imperative; it is a foundation for national stability and global prosperity,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message ahead of...

With the inability to closely follow-up on women during their pregnancy period impairing its ability to bring down maternal mortality rate, the State government has rolled up its sleeves to address the problem. The solution, here too, seems to lie in technology. The Directorate of public health has commissioned the use of the Pregnancy Infant COHORT Monitoring Evaluation (PICME) software for all staff members, primarily in all primary health centres (PHC),...

Said it failed to state ethical aspects involved in the study Proposal was based on the assumption that vaccine was safe and efficacious: PHFI Brinda demands compensation for all subjects victimised by vaccine programme The proposal for conducting the now controversial “Post-licensure observational study of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination: Demonstration Project,” carried out by a non-governmental organisation PATH for two major pharmaceutical companies, had been turned down by the public health Foundation...

Amartya Sen today said primary healthcare should be more accessible to people and sought the public sector’s support in healthcare. “I strongly say yes to right to health,” the Noble laureate said after formally announcing the launch of Pratichi (India) Institute in Salt Lake. The economist, who has been conducting research and development work in the fields of education, health and gender equality for the past 10 years, said Pratichi Trust, which...

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wants it to be the new Singapore. State officials call it Urjanchal, land of energy. For sociologist Sakarama Somayaji, the enduring image from India’s emerging energy wonderland in Singrauli is the women who sell baskets of stones on the roadside. Individually or in groups, the women break stones, and sell them to passing trucks for R80-R90 a basket, a day’s labour. The women are...