Social sector

Scrub typhus is a major public health threat in South and Southeast Asia. Key details: As per estimates, nearly one million cases are reported from South and Southeast Asia with 10% mortality. India is one of the hotspots with at least 25% of the disease burden. A trial carried out in India where patients were received a combination therapy …

The World Bank is lending up to $1 billion to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure. The lending will be divided into two complementary loans of $500 million each. Through this combined financing of $1 billion, the bank will support India’s …

It stands for Scheme for Modernization and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System. Envisaging a new and unified scheme to strengthen the PDS technology components by standardization of its operation and implementation of data driven decision making through the data analytics. Smart ration cards are issued to beneficiaries of public distribution system. Fingerprint template of the beneficiary is recorded …

The last few years have ushered in a harsh new reality where crises are the norm rather than the exception. Pandemics, economic slumps and extreme weather events were once tail-end risks, but all three have hit South Asia in rapid succession since 2020. COVID-19 alone put millions of lives and …

February 2023, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently said, had been the warmest since 1901 with the average maximum temperature at nearly 29.54°C. While February — considered ‘spring’ and a ‘winter month’ by the IMD — usually posts temperatures in the low 20s, it is also apparent that there has …

Patient-doctor violent conflicts often stem from inadequacy of health facilities in the country, spiralling treatment costs and dehumanisation of healthcare that shakes the citizens’ foundational belief that doctors are infallible service providers. The simmering anger of the public against injustice in healthcare is aggravated when either a patient treats the …