Between 25th and 30th of March, 2020, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India has more than doubled i.e. from 519 to 1,251, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). In a span of 6 days, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 has more than trebled i.e. from 9 to 32. In a health situation like this, when the coronavirus...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-The Hindu Sonnu gets yield of 6.5 quintals an acre VISAKHAPATNAM (Andhra Pradesh): Following zero budget natural farming, Pangi Sonnu of Araku Valley mandal cultivated sama (little millet) got a yield of 6.5 quintals an acre. The crop-cutting experiment in a 5x5 square metre plot was conducted at the ZBNF Sama festival at Baliyaguda village on Friday. The festival was organised by Agriculture Department, Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives, Sanjeevini...

-Scroll.in Thailand spends as much of its GDP on health as India, yet it offers the entire range of healthcare services to all citizens for free. Finance Minister Arun Jailtley’s Budget speech this year and the subsequent media coverage projected insurance coverage as being almost synonymous with universal health coverage. Nothing could be further from the truth. Health insurance is only a small part of ensuring universal health coverage. Besides, to...

-The Indian Express Budget’s bias toward privately-delivered care undermines universal health coverage Until about four decades ago, specialist healthcare (secondary and tertiary care) was largely a province of public hospitals, and the private sector largely kept itself to the provision of generalist healthcare. This underwent a transformation with the rise of the advanced medical interventions comprising tertiary-care medicine like Organ Transplantation and open heart surgery. Given these highly-profitable medical advances, the private...