-The Hindu Suham Hospital, run by a women Self-Help Group is a forerunner in providing quality healthcare to the poor at a subsidised cost Madurai: "Next week, we are installing an ultra-sound scan facility at a cost of Rs. 15,00,000. We are planning to invite the collector to inaugurate it," informs, C.K. Meena who along with few other Self-Help Group members run the Suham Hospital. "It involves the contribution of poor women...

-The Hindu Bangalore: The State government's Rajiv Arogyasri health scheme for above poverty line (APL) families has lost its sheen even before it can take off. Going back on its word to provide subsidised healthcare to APL families by bearing 90 per cent of the cost for up to Rs. 1.5 lakh annually, the government has now reworked the scheme to provide only 70 per cent of the cost up to Rs....

-New York Times News Service SHEOHAR (Bihar): He wore thick black eyeliner to ward off the evil eye, but Vivek, a tiny 1-year-old living in a village of mud huts and diminutive people, had nonetheless fallen victim to India's great scourge of malnutrition. His parents seemed to be doing all the right things. His mother still breast-fed him. His family had six goats, access to fresh buffalo milk and a hut filled...

-The Indian Express     Mumbai: It's been eight months since the state government launched ‘Manodhairya Yojana', a scheme to provide monetary relief and rehabilitation for rape and acid attack victims, including women and children. But with little advocacy, lack of counsellors in civic-run hospitals, poor post-trauma support as mandated by the scheme, and most importantly, policy apathy, ‘Manodhairya' risks being a laudable scheme just on paper. AAMIR KHAN and TABASSUM BARNAGARWALA speak...

-Live Mint   Strong political commitment is needed to build a system of universal health coverage and better regulations   Life expectancy in India has more than doubled since independence, to 65 years, from just 32 in 1950. The infant mortality rate has been cut by two-thirds since 1971. Smallpox and guinea worm have been eradicated, the spread of HIV/AIDS has been contained, and the World Health Organization has declared India polio-free.   Yet for all...