The government acknowledges that non-communicable diseases are on the rise in India and need attention. (Editorial)

The enrolment of the poor in the flagship health insurance scheme, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana in its third year of operation does not show any sign of it covering all the poor by 2012. This article estimates the proportion of the eligible below the poverty line families enrolled for the scheme and the fraction of those hospitalised who are covered.

The story of how pharmaceutical companies influenced scientists and official agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) in the recent swine flu scare and the saga of the undeclared conflicts of interests of members of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts has set off alarm bells around the world. When trusted advisors are less than honest, the potential for harm is great, and the feeling of betrayal is poignant.

India had the largest number of malnourished children in the world. Our figures were worse than sub Saharan Africa. For me as for many others, India's high growth rate loses its sheen when, despite all the resources allocated to it, malnutrition could not be handled and brought down in any significant way.

Solving the predicaments facing women is a crucial development objective. But it is also a neglected instrument for health. Women and girls make up 60% of the world's poorest people and two-thirds of the world's illiterate people.