India Healthcare

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The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the stand of the AAP government on a plea by seven BJP MPs from the city seeking implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) in the national capital. A bench headed by Chief Justice Manmohan issued notice to the Delhi government as well as the Centre and the LG on the public interest litigation by the legislators. "Issue notice. Counsel for the respondents prays for and is granted time to file reply on affidavits," the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, said. The matter would be heard next on December 11. The petitioners -- Harsh Malhotra, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal, Yogendra Chandolia, Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj-- asserted in their PIL that citizens in the capital were facing a serious issue of high out-of-pocket health and medical expenses and several have to even resort to borrowing or selling their assets in a medical emergency. The petitioners sai

Addressing concerns, officials assured the public that no outbreak has occurred in Delhi, and most reported cases are from neighbouring states

In 2023-24, TCHF II investments delivered 1.7 million direct health beneficiaries, 41 new jobs for every $1 million invested

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Four theme-based sub-groups have been constituted on the recommendations of the National Task Force to address the concerns highlighted by the Supreme Court in the wake of protests by doctors following the RG Kar rape and murder incident. Taking suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder case of a trainee woman doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata, the apex court had constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other health care professionals. The Union Health Ministry on Thursday issued an office memorandum notifying the four sub-groups of the NTF, each of which have been mandated with four themes -- strengthening infrastructure of medical institutions, strengthening security systems in medical institutions, revamping working conditions of health care professionals and strengthening of legal framework across all states. "... following four theme based sub-groups are constituted

Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil on Friday asked people not to worry about the mpox outbreak reported in some African countries as no infection has been detected in India till now. The minister said free testing facilities have been arranged at the Victoria Hospital. Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, lasting between two and four weeks, and its patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management. It is transmitted through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient. We held a departmental meeting today on preparedness for mpox. As of now, there is nothing to worry about, as no cases have been reported here, Patil told reporters after a meeting with the officials here. The central government has issued guidelines. At Victoria Hospital, we have arranged free testing facilities, he added. The minister said the people of Karnataka need not worry as the state government has made all preparations to deal with the infection. T

The national full immunisation coverage for 2023-24 was 93.50 per cent, with Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir topping the list, according to the Source Health Management Information System. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said Lakshadweep (108.79 per cent) and Jammu and Kashmir (108.66 per cent) were followed by Telangana (106.13 per cent), Delhi (105.03 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (101.26 per cent), Mizoram (101.10 per cent) and Maharashtra (101.04 per cent). Immunisation coverage was above 95 per cent in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Jharkhand Gujarat, Chandigarh and Chhattisgarh during this period. The coverage was the lowest in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at 48.03 per cent. According to health ministry sources, some states and Union territories had figures higher than 100 per cent because of increased coverage by catch-up campaigns such as Intensified Mission Indradhan

The findings of a paper published in academic journal Science Advances on life expectancy during the Covid pandemic in India in 2020 are based on "untenable and unacceptable" estimates, the Union health ministry said on Saturday after the findings were highlighted in some media reports. While the paper's authors claim to have followed standard methodology of analysing the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), there are critical flaws in the methodology, the ministry said in a statement. "The most important flaw is that the authors have taken a subset of households included in the NFHS survey between January and April 2021, compared mortality in these households in 2020 with 2019, and extrapolated the results to the entire country," it said. The NFHS sample is representative of the country only when it is considered as a whole. The 23 per cent of households included in this analysis from part of 14 states cannot be considered representative of the country, the statement said. "T

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Industry sources say Centre is considering increasing coverage under Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 5 lakh

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The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on Thursday on a PIL seeking a direction to authorities to provide palliative care to terminally-ill persons as part of the national health programme. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Jayna Kothari, who appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner, that palliative care should be recognised and made part of the national health programme. The court did not agree to one of the prayers in the public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by Bengaluru resident Rajshree Nagaraju that the right to get palliative care be declared as a part of right to health under Article 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution. "You seek mandamus (a writ) stating palliative care comes under Article 21. I do not think that you need to pursue this prayer. The right to palliative care is part of the right to health and life.... ...

In the last nine years, around Rs 26,000 crores of poor people's money has been saved through the Jan Aushadhi Kendras

Chennai-based group operates eight multi-multispeciality hospitals that provide range of services

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 131 fresh COVID-19 cases after testing 12,405 samples at a positivity rate of 1.05 per cent, the state health department said. No fatalities are reported. A day earlier, the state had logged 172 COVID-19 infections. Out of 8,76,33,748 laboratory samples tested until Sunday (since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020), 81,72,836 have tested positive for COVID-19, as per the health department. With 51 patients discharged on Sunday, the overall number of recoveries in the state stood at 80,23,576 at a recovery rate of 98.17 per cent. The week from December 24 to 31 saw 751 cases compared to the preceding week from December 17 to 24 when only 103 infections were recorded. 19 cases each were reported from December 3 to 9 and from December 10 to 16, as per the health department. Maharashtra has so far reported 29 cases of JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron till Sunday. District-wise distribution is Pune 15, Thane 5, Beed 3, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 2 and

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As the pandemic raged, India developed its own vaccine. Those weren't easy days, Ella, the man behind Covaxin, tells Sohini Das

As much as 95 per cent of the country's population is uninsured despite the government and the insurance regulator's efforts to expand coverage, National Insurance Academy said in a report, which was released on Thursday. Unveiling the report, Irdai Chairman Debasish Panda urged the industry to emulate steps that led to the massive success of the UPI, opening of bank accounts, as well as mobile penetration. Panda said a compulsory natural calamity insurance in high-risk regions -- as recommended in the report -- is needed if the country wants to achieve insurance for all by the time the nation completes a hundred years as a republic. According to the report, 95 per cent of the country's population of 144 crore is uncovered. The high prevalence of lack of insurance coverage assumes importance in the light of the increase in the number of natural calamities and other climate-related disasters to hit the country. Further, it said 84 per cent people from low- and middle-income categor

The over 10,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country have led to savings of around Rs 7,416 crore for the citizens this financial year, Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply in the Upper House, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said an unprecedented 150 times growth in annual sales has been witnessed by the scheme in the last 9 years. "During the financial year 2022-23, Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) has sold Jan Aushadhi medicines worth Rs 1,236 crore, with approx 40 per cent growth from the previous year and this has led to savings of approximately Rs 7,416 crore to the citizens," he noted. The projected sales target for 2023-24 is Rs 1,400 crore and the scheme is growing at a very fast pace garnering public trust and confidence, Khuba said. In all, during the past nine years, total savings have been estimated at more than Rs 23,000 crore for the citizens under this scheme, he stated. On an average 10-12