Page 29 - Health Ministry

Heatstroke took 374 lives, over 67,000 cases till Jul 27: Health Ministry

Uttar Pradesh was the worst-hit state, recording 52 deaths, followed by Bihar with 37 deaths. Odisha reported 26 deaths and Delhi 25 deaths

Wayanad landslides: 199 post-mortems conducted so far, says Kerala Govt

In a post on Facebook, Minister George said that additionally, DNA samples of 130 body parts were also taken

Dr Reddy's Laboratories Q1 result: Net profit dips 0.90%, revenue up 13.88%

DRL's growth was primarily driven by the robust performance of the global generics business, particularly in North America and India

No panel formed to cover 70 plus citizens under Ayushman Bharat: Govt

No expert committee has been set up for extending health benefits to cover citizens aged 70 and above under Ayushman Bharat, Union Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav told the Lok Sabha on Friday. He was responding to a question on whether the government proposed to cover citizens aged 70 and above by expanding Ayushman Bharat through the launch of a national health claims exchange and if an expert panel had been set up to strengthen the format of the scheme for the planned expansion. Jadhav, in a written reply, said all members of eligible families, irrespective of age, were covered under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. The scheme provides health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation to 55 crore individuals, corresponding to 12.34 crore families, he said. "No expert committee has been set up for extending the health benefits to cover senior citizens aged 70 and above," he stated. Responding t

Cancer cases rising, prices of essential drugs kept in check: Nadda

The government makes all efforts to ensure affordable and accessible treatment is available for cancer patients amid a rise in cases in India, Health Minister JP Nadda said on Friday. Replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Nadda said the government made all efforts to ensure that affordable and accessible treatment was available to the patients. "The number of cancer cases is going up, it is increasing by almost 2.5 per cent every year," Nadda said. In men, cases of oral and lung cancer are on the up while more women are getting breast cancer, he added. More than 15.5 lakh cancer cases are being registered every year, Nadda said. "There is a list of 131 essential cancer medicines, which are in Schedule 1, (that) are monitored and (their) pricing is decided by the government. These are the commonly used medicines," Nadda said. He said patients cumulatively saved around Rs 294 crore due to this price control. "There are 28 combinations, which ar

3 cancer drugs now exempt from customs duty; X-ray tubes to become cheaper

The Union minister also brought down the customs duty on X-ray tubes used in medical X-ray machines

Budget 2024: Health Ministry's Budget outlay jumps 12.9% to Rs 90,958 crore

The budgetary estimate figures for FY25 include the combined outlay for the two departments under the health ministry: the department of health and family welfare and the department of health research

Need to face up to junk food crisis as study shows 23% Indians overweight

Indians need simple, easy-to-understand, and prominent warning labels, so that their better natures are given a chance to overtake their impulses

Nadda directs FSSAI to waive off registration fee for street food vendors

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday directed food regulator FSSAI to waive a registration fee of Rs 100 for street food vendors and also stressed upon the need to create street food hubs across the country. Nadda chaired a training and awareness programme for around 1,350 street food vendors conducted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital. Nadda directed the FSSAI to waive the registration fee of Rs 100 for street food vendors. To encourage vendors and promote more and more registrations, he said FSSAI would waive the Rs 100 registration fee for the street food vendors. At present, the FSSAI charges Rs 100 per annum as a registration fee for petty food business operators, including street food vendors, having turnover of up to Rs 12 lakh annually. FSSAI is providing certificates as well as 'Street Safe' rapid testing kits to all the participating vendors. Nadda urged street food vendors to practicall

Did Covid cut India's life expectancy by 2.6 years? Here's what Centre says

A recent report revealed that India saw a 2.6-year reduction in life expectancy from 2019 to 2020, with Muslims and Scheduled Tribes (STs) experiencing the most severe impacts

Health ministry terms study on Covid deaths in India as 'misleading'

The findings of a paper published in academic journal Science Advances on life expectancy during the Covid pandemic in India in 2020 are based on "untenable and unacceptable" estimates, the Union health ministry said on Saturday after the findings were highlighted in some media reports. While the paper's authors claim to have followed standard methodology of analysing the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), there are critical flaws in the methodology, the ministry said in a statement. "The most important flaw is that the authors have taken a subset of households included in the NFHS survey between January and April 2021, compared mortality in these households in 2020 with 2019, and extrapolated the results to the entire country," it said. The NFHS sample is representative of the country only when it is considered as a whole. The 23 per cent of households included in this analysis from part of 14 states cannot be considered representative of the country, the statement said. "T

1.1 mn excess deaths during Covid-19, 8 times more than govt figure: Study

In India, 11.9 lakh excess deaths occurred in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, 17 per cent higher compared to 2019, an international study has found. The estimate is about eight times higher than the official COVID-19 deaths in India, and 1.5 times the World Health Organization's estimates, researchers, including those from the University of Oxford, UK, said. Using data of over 7.65 lakh individuals, the study estimated changes in life expectancy at birth, by gender and social group between 2019 and 2020 in India, a country where one-third of global pandemic excess deaths are thought to have occurred, according to the authors. The data was taken from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5). The life expectancy in women fell by 3.1 years, while it fell by 2.1 years in men, the authors said. Gender inequalities in healthcare and resource distribution within households could be possible reasons, they said. The patterns contrast with those seen in high-income countries, where .

Health ministry trashes Unicef's report on high 'zero dose children'

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said media reports stating that India has a high number of 'zero dose children', who did not receive any vaccine, in comparison to other countries based on UNICEF report depicts an incomplete picture of the country's immunization data. The ministry said they do not factor in the population base and immunization coverage of the countries compared. The accurate and complete narrative of the immunization efforts of the government can be gauged through comprehensive understanding of the relative data and programmatic interventions, the ministry added. The percentage coverage for all antigens in India is higher than the global average. In India, for most of the antigens, the coverage is more than 90 per cent, which is at par with other high-income countries such as New Zealand (DTP-1 93 per cent), Germany and Finland (DPT-3 91 per cent), Sweden (MCV-1 93 per cent), Luxembourg (MCV-2 90 per cent), Ireland (PCV-3 83 per cent), United Kingdom of Great

Need to have world class regulatory framework, says Nadda at review meeting

CDSCO has been asked to draw a roadmap with timelines for achieving global standards in its mandated activities

'Hellishly hot' southern Europe bakes under heat wave as temp tops 104F

The Italian health ministry placed 12 cities under the most severe heat warning Tuesday as a wave of hot air from Africa baked southern Europe and the Balkans and sent temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the worst still to come. Croatia reported the highest-ever temperatures of the Adriatic Sea, with the thermometer reaching nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) at the southern walled city of Dubrovnik, the country's most popular tourism spot. In Serbia, the state power company reported record consumption Tuesday due to the use of air conditioning. Municipal authorities in several southern European and Balkan cities took measures to look after elderly people in particular as civil protection crews fielded calls for water-dropping aircraft such as Canadairs to douse wildfires that raged in southern Italy and North Macedonia. It's hellishly hot," said Carmen Daz, a tourist from Madrid who was trying to keep cool with a fan at lunchtime in ..

'Viksit Bharat' goal can be achieved by having smaller families: JP Nadda

Addressing the gathering J.P. Nadda said that Centre and the states need to collectively work to ensure that women can exercise their right to make family planning choices

How digital tech and AI are revolutionising primary health care in India

Digital innovations are transforming not only clinical applications, but also streamlining administrative processes making the entire health care experience more patient-centric

Centre asks officials to work with high-burden states for dengue prevention

All central government hospitals have been asked to ensure that fully equipped, dedicated dengue wards are operationalised with trained manpower, drugs, and other logistics

Indian pharma firms seek govt tax reliefs, incentives to spur innovation

The upcoming budget would be Modi's first major policy announcement in his third term as prime minister

Counselling schedule for NEET courses not yet notified: Health ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday clarified that the counselling schedule for NEET UG and PG courses for the year 2024 has not yet been notified by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). The counselling schedule for NEET UG and PG is announced by MCC, under the Directorate General of Health Services, on its website on the basis of the completion of the exam process and the finalisation of the seat matrix by the National Medical Commission (NMC). In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the counselling for UG seats commenced on 19/1/2022, 11/10/2022 and 20/7/2023 respectively, the ministry said in a statement. For the year 2024, NMC has communicated its schedule for finalisation of the seat matrix for UG and PG seats in the last week of June indicating that it will finalise the UG seat matrix by the third week of July and PG seat matrix by mid-August. The MCC will accordingly notify the counselling schedule. "Therefore, it is clarified that MCC has not yet notified the counselling schedule fo