India, which has been polio-free for over a year now, was on Saturday taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation.

This announcement was made by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the polio summit 2012 here in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Azad said he has received a letter on Saturday morning stating that the "WHO has taken India's name off the list of polio endemic countries in view of the remarkable progress that we have made during the past one year."

India may have won the battle against polio but the war is far from over. Having achieved one full polio-free year, the key challenge now is to ensure that any residual or imported poliovirus in the country is rapidly detected and eliminated.

The challenge is also to ensure that all children up to 5 years continue to take OPV at every available opportunity (during polio campaigns and routine immunisations) until global eradication is achieved, Anuradha Gupta, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,

The Health Ministry is in favour of banning smokeless forms of tobacco which are being used by 25 per cent of the population and are known to contain chemical components with serious implications f

Clarifying that gutka is a food product, the health ministry will soon issue instructions to the states against allowing use of tobacco-laced gutka or pan masala.

“It has now been established beyond doubt that gutka is a food product and falls under the Prevention of Food Adultration Law. The Supreme Court ruled in a recent order that gutka be treated as a food item. That being the case, its adulteration is violative of laws. Tobacco, which is an injurious substance, cannot be used in gutka,” Keshav Desiraju, additional secretary, health, said.

The alarming new trend of asking patients to undergo surgery they could do without

The Union Ministry of Health is planning to link public health initiatives, such as a separate public health cadre and a public health Act, to the disbursal of funds under the National Rural Health

This time, when the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) chooses the new set of pictorial warnings for tobacco products they will have to be extra careful.

With the earlier photo — a blurred image that appeared to be resembling footballer John Terry — creating trouble, the Union health ministry has asked the DAVP to give them more options of photos for the tobacco manufacturers, mandating that pictures should be 'general'.

The Supreme Court today sought the Centre's response on conducting an independent inquiry into alleged illegal clinical trials of untested drugs by pharmaceutical companies in various states.

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Council of India on a petition seeking judicial intervention into allegations of clinical tri

Cancer is often considered a disease of developed nations. In developing countries such as India, the focus has been on curbing communicable diseases.