This paper attempts an analysis of efficiency variation in health system performance in Karnataka. By using the stochastic frontier technique, it provides an idealised yardstick to evaluate the performance of the health sector.

The first thing that greets the eye at Amader Haspatal, a rural hospital in a remote part of West Bengal's tribal dominated Bankura district, is the sheer burst of colour all around.

Touching the border of Birbhum in West Bengal , in this abjectly poor district of Sahebgunj in Jharkhand the story of despair is stark. In the black stone mines of Pakur and beyond, run the dark narratives of Kala Azar, silicosis, malaria, tuberculosis and rampant malnourishment. Poverty stares brazenly but there is not even the shadow of a government or relief for the people.

A quiet movement in health care has been unfolding in the rural interiors of West Bengal, improving the lives of thousands of people in villages where no doctor has ever been before. It is an effort defined by vision and commitment and is far removed from the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which has spent 30 years in power in the state.

In every country, rich or poor, the story is the same. There are not enough nurses. The developed world fills its vacancies by enticing nurses from other countries, while developing countries are unable to compete with better pay, better professional development and the lure of excitement offered elsewhere.

Despite many policy measures taken by the central and state governments, the indebtedness of farmers, especially marginal and small cultivators, keeps increasing. Some recent studies on agrarian distress show the significant role of healthcare expenditure in increasing indebtedness. This article presents the result of a study conducted in selected villages of Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab in 2008-09 to estimate the level of credit taken for healthcare purposes by marginal and small farmers. It also analyses the present scenario of public health services in rural Punjab.

Previous estimates of the global burden of disease for children have not included much information from China, leading to a large gap in data. The authors identified the main causes of deaths in neonates (

This article analyses the comparability of the estimates of child malnutrition emanating from the National Family Health Surveys and the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau. The issue has been highlighted by Deaton and Dr