-Frontline The National Advisory Council recommendations seem to be making a strong case for a major role for the private sector in the delivery of health care. THE recommendations for universal health coverage drawn up by the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, push for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health delivery system but not for any inbuilt mechanisms for accountability. The NAC also...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Demanding transparency in political finance-Shailaja Chandra
-The Hindu Building on the work by RTI activists, India needs to set up a mechanism that can make for accountability on the sources and utilisation of party funds Throughout the world, political parties collect funds to build and sustain the organisation, to train party cadres and fight elections. Recognising that they are the main link to the citizens (as voters) and, by implication, the mainstay of democracy, many countries, including India,...
More »Unregulated surrogacy industry worth over $2bn thrives without legal framework -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With an unregulated surrogacy industry thriving in India, rich couples are preying on domestic helps and housemaids coercing them to step up to the task. There is little or no protection for the surrogate mother controlled in the most part by a web of middle-men with medical practitioners choosing to turn a blind eye to this controversial transaction. These are part of the conclusions drawn...
More »Paying the price-Ramya Kannan
-The Hindu The much-awaited Drug (Prices Control) Order 2013 has disappointed millions of patients, as it lacks a fair formula to fix the price ceiling and leaves important drug classes out of regulation. The result: High out-of-pocket spending on medicines will continue As far as intentions go, the Drug (Prices Control) Order 2013 is aimed at making critical drugs affordable and available to the public, while preserving a rationale for manufacture by...
More »Short-circuiting debate
-The Business Standard Food security should not be treated as a political ploy The government's rush to push through food security legislation as an ordinance, instead of waiting the few weeks till the next Parliament session, is disturbing. There continue to be several major problems with the food security scheme that deserve to be more thoroughly discussed at the highest level of law making than they have been so far. Nobody can...
More »