The Union government has constantly said in parliament that there is no conclusive evidence to link air pollution and deaths. However, the latest letter written by Union health secretary to states alludes to an ICMR study that said 17 lakh people died due to air pollution in 2019.

As per a Lancet study, only 27.8% and 29.3% of the entire cohort of women and men suffering from the disease in India have any treatment coverage.

A close analysis of numbers presented in a WHO report clearly indicates that India has missed the goals set for two out of three interim milestones for 2025 as well.

While the drug controller said that those companies whose named figured in earlier monthly lists were asked to withdraw their NSQ drugs, it is unknown how many withdrawal orders were implemented.

This is the second revision made by the pharma company after its first revised application, submitted on July 11, mentioned NIV only as co-applicants. All necessary documents which ensured NIV-ICMR's co-inventorship were filed this month, four years after the original patent application was filed.

A day after The Wire reported that the BBIL had not filed a revised application despite its promise, the firm quickly moved to inform the patent office about including the ICMR as co-owner.

After the pharma firm filed an application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, a preliminary search report by the Indian Patent Office has raised doubts about the vaccine’s 'inventivity' and 'novelty'.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority says the drug makers had complained to the government that production was not viable due to increased input costs.

Principal scientific adviser Ajay Kumar Sood said the final list for the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award was prepared according to the ‘rules’, but he did not address the issue of whether the names of scientists were indeed omitted.

The study had led to a barrage of media reports which stated that 33% of the studied recipients of the vaccine had developed adverse reactions.

According to sources, at least two scientists appeared to have been dropped from the list of awardees even after a recommendation from the committee constituted by the government. Their criticism of the Modi government may be the cause, noted scientists feared.

Mental healthcare remains a big taboo because of the unprecedented stigma attached with it.

Earlier, the scheme – based on an insurance model to cover only hospitalisation expenses – was restricted to families belonging to lower socio-economic strata.

One of the biggest concerns that comes out from the Economic Survey is the stagnant expenditure on health. The expenditure on health as part of the GDP for the year 2022-23 stood at merely 1.9%.

The ministry's spend declined by 3%, just two years after COVID-19, which should have made health a serious priority. Also, much against the spirt of the Economic Survey tabled this year, stressing the need for mental health, the allocation to national tele-mental healthcare services has declined.

Notwithstanding the Modi government's schemes, more than half the country’s population is unable to afford a ‘healthy diet’. India ranks first in the world in wasting in children and low birth weight among babies, and first in South Asia in anaemia in women.

The Union government is always quick in rejecting each and every excess death study related to Covid-19. But it has been sitting on crucial data sets which could have put a full stop on all such conjectures.

A day after The Wire reported that the BBIL had not filed a revised application despite its promise, the firm quickly moved to inform the patent office about including the ICMR as co-owner.

This move comes after the company had lost the patent case in India over the drug's salt used for making adult's formation last year.

The cliche goes that a family is just one episode of serious illness away from poverty. A Niti Aayog report confirms this. It says 7% of India’s population — about 10 crore people — are pushed into poverty every year due to the amount of money they spend on healthcare. Will new minister, J.P. Nadda do anything?