Government proposes a new drugs policy that would give it greater control over medicine pricing

It seeks to provide boost to local industry and curtail the powers of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.

Menaka Rao

· Aug 17, 2017 · 12:30 pm

With no doctor at hand, fever patients in Manipur’s Henglep walk, wade and ride 80 km for treatment

About 150 people in four remote villages were struck by dengue, Japanese encephalitis and malaria and had little help for weeks.

Sianthuam Guite

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Menaka Rao

· Aug 16, 2017 · 01:30 pm

‘The entire corridor was filled with cries’: The night when oxygen ran out in Gorakhpur hospital

Parents recall how their babies began to fade as oxygen supply dipped. The state government has failed to explain the spike in deaths on August 10.

Menaka Rao

· Aug 15, 2017 · 09:17 am

Gorakhpur hospital deaths: Doctor explains why oxygen payments were delayed

Dr Rajeev Mishra, who resigned as the principal of the medical college, says he wrote three letters in July, asking for funds from the government.

Menaka Rao

· Aug 13, 2017 · 06:41 pm

72 hours, more than 30 deaths later, oxygen supply to Gorakhpur hospital is still to be restored

Piped oxygen supply to the hospital was disrupted on the evening of August 10. The hospital has been scrambling to get in oxygen cylinders since then.

Menaka Rao

 & 

Priyanka Vora

· Aug 13, 2017 · 06:30 am

Adivasis in Andhra Pradesh repeatedly fall ill with anthrax infections due to government apathy

Regular animal immunisations can prevent the annual outbreak of anthrax in the state.

Menaka Rao

· Aug 10, 2017 · 02:30 pm

Will the drug pricing authority regulate the price of knee implants?

After capping the prices of cardiac stents, the drug authority turns its attention to knee implants, even though they aren’t on the essential medicines list.

Menaka Rao

· Aug 07, 2017 · 02:30 pm

India cannot eliminate malaria if a large state like Andhra Pradesh cannot count its cases correctly

The state health department does not count results from the Rapid Blood Tests for malaria, even though the national guidelines mandate it.

Menaka Rao

· Jul 28, 2017 · 04:00 pm

A malaria drug used by Andhra Pradesh is making cases of the disease harder to count – and fight

The state health department is flouting national guidelines by using chloroquine. This has led to both drug resistance and underreporting of malaria cases.

Menaka Rao

· Jul 27, 2017 · 02:30 pm

16 people died in three weeks in a remote Andhra village – and the government still doesn’t know why

Blood tests showed a malaria outbreak in Chaparai village but officials blame the deaths on the beliefs and practices of Adivasis.

Menaka Rao

· Jul 24, 2017 · 02:30 pm

Health ministry claims it had no say in fine print of Niti Aayog plan to privatise some hospitals

The ministry says it will respond to a draft model contract that has been sent to states for comments.

Menaka Rao

· Jul 21, 2017 · 06:30 am

Niti Aayog and health ministry prepare model contract for privatising urban health care

Terms of agreement give private players 30-year lease over parts of government district hospitals.

Nitin Sethi

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Menaka Rao

· Jul 19, 2017 · 09:00 am