Page 29 - Health Ministry

NEET-PG postponed, health ministry to assess exam process robustness

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said it has decided to postpone the NEET-PG entrance examination, scheduled to be held on June 23, as a "precautionary measure" in the wake of recent allegations on the integrity of certain competitive exams. Ministry of Health has decided to undertake a thorough assessment of the robustness of processes of the NEET-PG entrance examination, conducted by the National Board of Examination (NTA) for medical students, it said. "It has accordingly been decided, as a precautionary measure to postpone the NEET-PG entrance examination, scheduled to be held tomorrow -- 23rd June, 2024," the ministry said. The fresh date of this examination will be notified at the earliest, it said. "Ministry of Health sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to the students. This decision has been taken in the best interests of the students and to maintain the sanctity of the examination process," the ministry said.

Health ministry asks all states, UTs to release daily heatstroke cases data

The advisory instructs state administrations to spread public awareness about the precautions to be taken to safeguard against extreme heat

Health min Nadda directs special heatwave units in central govt hospitals

Nadda's instructions to his officials come amid blistering heat that has swept major parts of the country

National health mission drives standardisation in public healthcare system

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to address the challenges pertaining to underutilisation of public healthcare facilities and missed diagnosis on priority

Meet JP Nadda, man behind Indradhanush back to steer health agenda

Nadda is considered a key decision-maker in the BJP and a close aide of PM Narendra Modi. He has been the national president of the BJP since 2020 and a member of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat

Ensure fire safety in hospitals: Health ministry to all states and UTs

This comes as the national capital has had three major hospital fire incidents in the last two weeks, with short circuits being claimed as the cause of fire in at least two incidents

Health ministry asks states to conduct regular fire-safety mock-drills

After the recent fire incident that claimed lives of infants in an East Delhi hospital, the Health Ministry has reiterated the need for strict adherence to fire safety norms in hospitals across India

Follow fire protocol at hospitals to a T: Union health secy to states

Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra on Monday called for strict compliance with fire-safety protocols in a meeting with states and healthcare organisations, citing an increased possibility of fires in hospitals with high temperatures. With the entire northern region reeling under a prolonged heatwave, incidents of fire, including in forests, are increasingly being reported. Several of these fire incidents were reported to be caused by short circuits which happened due to sub-optimal electrical maintenance and/or overload of electricity lines with heavy use of air-conditioners and other equipment. "Given the potential risks associated with fire hazards in hospitals, it is imperative that strict protocols and measures be put in place to prevent, detect and respond to fires effectively. "Establishing a robust fire safety plan and conducting fire-evacuation and safety drills will not only ensure compliance with regulatory requirements but also safeguard lives and property," Chandra .

56 deaths due to heat stroke recorded in last 3 months: Health ministry

India has recorded 56 deaths from 24,849 suspected cases of heat stroke between March and May, according to data by the Union Health Ministry. According to the data compiled by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 46 of these deaths were recorded in May alone (till May 30). Between May 1 and 30, 19,189 suspected heat stroke cases were reported in the country, it said. The data does not include deaths from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi and the final numbers are expected to be higher, a source said. Heatwave conditions have gripped large swathes of the country. India on Friday alone reported at least 40 suspected heat-related deaths, 25 of them of staff deployed on Lok Sabha poll duty in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to officials, heat-related deaths were reported from Odisha (10), Bihar (8), Jharkhand (4) and Uttar Pradesh (1) on Thursday also. Rajasthan has reported at least five heat-related deaths so far. According to health ministry data, Madhya Pradesh saw 1

Health ministry's mental health helpline crosses 1 mn calls since inception

The programme aims to enhance nationwide mental health service delivery, offering multi-language support and facilitating communication between callers and mental health professionals

Health secy highlights India's achievements, future goals at WHO assembly

India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), intends to further strengthen the drug regulatory system to ensure quick access to high-quality medical products for all, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Wednesday. Chandra, who is leading the Indian delegation, addressed the Plenary Session of the 77th World Health Assembly of WHO in Geneva. The health secretary started his address by highlighting the similarities of this year's theme, "All for Health, Health for All" with the age-old Indian tradition of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means "world is one family", a health ministry statement said. He stated that under this theme, "India launched the 'Ayushman Bharat' meaning Live Long India to promote Universal Health Coverage by operationalizing more than 1,60,000 health and wellness centres (Ayushman Aarogya Mandir)". Chandra highlighted that as per the WHO SPAR report, India has a core capacity score of 86 per cent to detect, assess, report and respon

290 cases of Covid variant KP.2, 34 of KP.1 detected in India: Insacog data

As many as 290 cases of KP.2 and 34 cases of KP.1, both sub-lineages of COVID-19 that are responsible for surge in cases in Singapore, have been found in India, according to official data. However, a source in the Union health ministry told PTI that they are all sub variants of JN1 and there is no associated increase in hospitalization and severe cases. "So there is no reason for concern or panic. The mutations will keep happening at a rapid pace and this is the natural behaviour of viruses like SARS-CoV2," the source said. The source further said that the INSACOG surveillance is sensitive and is able to pick up the emergence of any new variant and samples are also picked from hospitals in a structured manner to detect any change in the severity of disease due to virus. Data compiled by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) showed that 34 cases of KP.1 have been found across seven states and UTs with 23 cases registered from West Bengal. The other states are Goa (1)

12% of India's eligible children received no dose of measles vaccine: Study

Nearly 12 per cent of children in India who are eligible for measles vaccination have received none of the recommended double-dose, signalling a "concerning gap" in immunisation coverage, a new study has found. The findings showed that zero-dose cases were high in the northeastern states, with Nagaland reporting the greatest share at 26 per cent. Tamil Nadu was found to report the lowest at 4.6 per cent. Researchers from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi investigated previously overlooked critical aspects of measles vaccination, focusing on zero-doses, partially vaccinated, and those fully immunised. They analysed data of over 43,000 children aged 2-3 years, collected through the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5). The team found that close to 30 per cent of the eligible children have received only one measles-containing vaccine (MCV1), while about 60 per cent have been fully immunised (MCV2). The findings are published in

Productivity loss due to oral cancer in India in 2022 at $5.6 bn: Study

A study by the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), a premier cancer treatment and research institute here, has estimated that the productivity loss of the country due to oral cancer in year 2022 was approximately USD 5.6 billion. India contributes two-thirds of the global mortality due to oral cancer and has a younger population at risk, said the study, which analysed how the disease affected 100 patients treated between 2019 and 2020 with a follow-up of 36 months. The median age of these patients was 47 years at the time diagnosis, and the majority of them were male. The disease-specific survival for early and advanced stages of the disease was 85 per cent and 70 per cent, with a median age of 47 years. "With (a total of) 671 years (referring to these 100 cases) lost prematurely, the loss of productivity was USD 41, 900 for early stage and USD 96, 044 for the advanced stage. Based on population level rates, the total cost of premature mortality was USD 5.6 billion in 2022, representing ..

Centre calls for broad consultations to standardise rates for hospitals

The Centre's affidavit also emphasised that fixation of rates may lead to serious issues like rendering healthcare setups financially unviable, and many other players may jack up the prices

Health secy Chandra urges states, UTs to link ABHA IDs with health portals

The Union Health Secretary has urged states and union territories to take necessary action to link Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) with various health portals, such as Reproductive Child Health (RCH), National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NIKSHAY), among others. As per the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) dashboard, total ABHA IDs created in the country as on April 3, 2024 is 5,894.60 lakhs, Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said. However, total beneficiaries linked with ABHA under Non-communicable diseases (NCD), Sickle cell, RCH, NIKSHAY, National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme (PMNDP) are only 827.99 lakhs, 0.89 lakhs, 15.78 lakhs, 2.46 lakhs, 0.056 lakhs and 0.17 lakhs, respectively, he said. "This shows that though the states have taken huge interest in creation of the IDs but non linking of health records with these IDs is not allowing the stakeholders, including the patients, from reaping the benefits o

CGHS ID mandatory linking with ABHA deadline extension: Details here

Linking deadline will from June 30 extended to 120 days, from 30 days now

Centre aims to improve quality of health services in CGHS hospitals

The partnership will also focus on expanding the network of qualified healthcare providers and laboratories empanelled under CGHS

India second only to China in hepatitis B and C cases, says WHO report

India accounted for the second-highest number of cases of hepatitis B and C in 2022 after China, with 3.5 crore infections, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can cause a range of health problems and can be fatal. According to the WHO's 2024 Global Hepatitis Report released on Tuesday, 254 million people lived with hepatitis B and 50 million with hepatitis C in 2022 globally. India, which was second only to China in the viral hepatitis burden, registered 2.98 crore hepatitis B cases in 2022 while the number of hepatitis C infections stood at 55 lakh. China registered 8.3 crore cases of hepatitis B and C, representing 27.5 per cent of the total disease burden. The report said that with a total of 3.5 crore cases, India accounted for 11.6 per cent of the total disease burden globally that year. There are five main strains of the hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. While they all cause live

Prices of essential medicines will not be increased in FY25: Mandaviya

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday said there will be no increase in prices of essential medicines this fiscal year in view of negligible growth in wholesale price-based inflation. In an interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here, Mandaviya -- the Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister -- assured that this is "Modiji's guarantee". When asked about reports and speculations of hike in rates of essential drugs, he said, "It is absolutely incorrect. There will be no increase in the price of medicines". The minister said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which is under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, annually revises the ceiling prices of scheduled medicines on the basis of Wholesale Price Index (WPI). "NPPA monitors and fixes the prices of essential medicines based on WPI," Mandaviya said. When inflation rises, it leads to a hike in prices and when it goes down, the prices come down, the minister said. "This year the ..