-The Hindu Lax monitoring, poor public engagement and inadequate training to vaccinators have dealt a serious blow to the crucial pentavalent immunisation programme The Pentavalent vaccine, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's latest addition to the immunisation programme, has run into a storm. The Supreme Court has sent a notice to the Ministry asking why the vaccine should not be banned in the country. The vaccine is no stranger to controversy. A...

-The Hindu It is the only sector that can create jobs and prevent the economic crisis from deepening In the last two decades, the Indian economy has witnessed a transformational change to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Economic reforms unveiled in 1991 have brought about a structural shift enabling the private sector to assume a much larger role in the economy. GDP growth has largely been...

-The Business Standard Confusion over clinical trial compensation norms Even as the health ministry is evaluating a formula to compensate victims of clinical trials, an expert committee, headed by Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, has recommended some stringent measures that appear contrary to the formula under consideration. The committee, set up by the ministry to formulate policy and guidelines for clinical trials, has suggested that no compensation be given for therapeutic inefficiency during clinical trials...

-The Hindu The story today is a far cry from the 1960s, when we led the developing countries' fight against the disease Tuberculosis is very much in the news, but for all the wrong reasons - a shortage of drugs; increasing multi-drug and extensive drug resistance (MDR, XDR), making treatment both cumbersome and expensive; total drug resistance (TDR) as a veritable death warrant; popularly used serological tests for diagnosis being declared worse...

-Outlook The Comptroller and Auditor General has slammed Railways for not effectively implementing Railway Board's guidelines for mechanised cleaning of major stations and not taking effective pest control measures in coaches. Besides the audit body has observed that Railways has failed to provide good quality of linen to passengers which has resulted in increased passenger dissatisfaction. "There was lack of synchronisation between guidelines of Railway Ministry on maintenance of cleanliness and availability of...