Being an Indian and below 5 years of age is a rather dangerous prospect right now. The odds seem to be piling up against Indian toddlers — a recent Unicef report has claimed that 16.55 lakh below-5 kids die each year in the nation, leading the world in child mortality.

According to the ‘Child Mortality Estimates Report 2012’, India’s under-five death toll is higher than the deaths in Nigeria, Congo and Pakistan put together. The killer diseases may be many — pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria figure as the top causes of death; but it all boils down to the nutrition of the mothers during pregnancy, and that given to the baby, say experts here.

A study finds that institutional support alone cannot help reduce maternal mortality in India.

With the withdrawal of Trinamool Congress support from the UPA, special grants for implementation of various schemes — especially the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) — may dry up, fear TMC leader

Prime Minister, experts batted for 2.5%

The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan on Monday called upon the Union Government to extend free medicine supply scheme, presently operational in a few States like Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, all over the country to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure of common people on health care. Such a scheme would especially benefit the patients deprived of any kind of treatment due to poverty.

In a letter addressed to Union Health & Family Welfare Secretary P. K. Pradhan, the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan pointed out that most of the States have “very ambiguous” systems of supply of medicines in the Government-run medical institutions, forcing the patients to purchase medicines from chemists and pharmacies at exorbitant prices.

UP’s dismal performance on the health front has been sliding further with scams in its NRHM implementation, murders of senior health officials

The public-private partnership (PPP) model will soon permeate the rickety health-sector in Uttar Pradesh. Under the top-down approach, the state government would rollout diagnostic centres at the district headquarters level and percolate to community healthcare centres.

New Delhi:Criticized for tardy probe progress coupled with acute shortage of officers to investigate cases, the CBI got a relief in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam investigations as the U

The re-categorised list of endosulfan victims in 11 panchayats of the district has shattered the hopes of many patients, who were under the impression that the government’s decision to pay the compensation recommended by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) would end their woes to some extent. The rehabilitation package, though not a rightful compensation for many who cannot even get out of their beds, could have been a relief.

Janu Naik, 64, who committed suicide by consuming poison at his residence in Bellur on Monday, was one among them. According to health officials who knew Janu Naik, he was very disappointed to know that his name was not included in the fresh list.

The infant mortality rate (IMR) is higher in the State compared to other South Indian states, according to S Selva Kumar, State mission director of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

For every 10 lakh children born every year in the State, nearly 35,000 die even before completing one year. This compares poorly with Kerala, which has reported 12,000 infant deaths, said Kumar. The officer said folk dance and drama were an effective means to create awareness on health among the people.