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Global Hunger Index erroneous measure of hunger: Health Ministry sources

The Global Hunger Index is an erroneous measure of hunger and suffers from serious methodological issues, Union Health Ministry sources said

Govt reviews Covid situation as Omicron subvariant BQ.1 detected in Pune

The BQ.1 is a mutation of BA.5, which is behind 60% Covid cases in the US

Govt says Global Hunger Index exaggerates measure of hunger: Report

The Global Hunger Index exaggerates the measure of hunger, lacks statistical vigour and has problems on multiple counts, Union Health Ministry sources said Tuesday after India stood 107th out of 121 in this year's rankings. It does not really measure hunger, they said while asserting that the report "deliberately ignores the tremendous efforts made by the government to ensure food security for the population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic". Three out of the four indicators used are related to the health of children and cannot be representative of the entire population, sources said. They said that according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) the indicators of undernourishment, stunting, wasting and child mortality do not measure hunger per se as these are not the manifestations of hunger alone. Many of the measures that are used to evolve an index that measures hunger are probably contextual, the ministry sources said. Claiming that the Global Hunger Index

Data story: India adds 1,542 new Covid cases; death toll at 528,913

India has added 16,036 cases in the past 7 days

Delhi records 635 new dengue infections in first half of October: Report

Of the 1,572 dengue cases recorded this year, as many as 693 were reported in September alone

India now has 20,000 tonnes per day Oxygen capacity. 90% of it lying idle

There are 1,242 liquid medical oxygen tanks in hospitals across India with a capacity of 15,622 tonnes. This is a 104 % rise in the number of tanks and a 131% increase in storage capacity

Govt not to procure fresh Covid vaccines; surrenders Rs 4k cr from budget

The government's Covid vaccination programme is in its final leg with the Health Ministry deciding against procuring more vaccines as of now and surrendering Rs 4,237 crore, or nearly 85 per cent of the 2022-23 budget allocation for inoculation purposes, to the Finance Ministry. Official sources told PTI that more than 1.8 crore doses are still available with the governments at the Centre and in states and the stock is sufficient to continue the vaccination drive for around six months, given the low uptake of vaccines among people due to declining Covid case burden. Even if the government's stock gets exhausted, Covid vaccines will be available in the market. "Any decision on whether to procure Covid vaccine doses through the government channel or get (fresh) budget allocations for the purpose after six months will depend on the coronavirus situation prevailing in the country at that time," an official source told PTI. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive which began on Janu

Data story: India adds 2,430 new cases of Covid; active tally at 26,618

India has added 17,110 cases in the past 7 days

Health Ministry sends high-level team to UP for dengue management

The team will collaborate with the State health authorities in instituting public health measures for Dengue management in Firozabad, Agra and Etawah districts

Data story: India adds 2,786 new Covid cases; active tally rises to 26,509

India has added 16,856 cases in the past 7 days

India reports single-day rise of 2,678 new Covid-19 cases: Health Ministry

India has recorded a single-day rise of 2,678 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally of the infections to 4,46,23,997, while the count of active cases has increased to 26,583, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll due to the disease has gone up to 5,28,857 with 10 fatalities being recorded, including three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed. The count of active cases now comprises 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.76 per cent, the health ministry said. An increase of 74 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, the data showed. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.13 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.07 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 4,40,68,557, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, as per the data. Accordi

Temporary Covid-19 centres getting dismantled amid signs pandemic is ending

About 92% of cases in India are said to be having mild disease. In only 5.8% of cases oxygen therapy is required, intensive care in only 1.7% cases

Union Health Minister's permission needed for inviting dignitaries to AIIMS

Invitations to top dignitaries for functions at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here should be extended only with the approval of the institute's president, according to an office memorandum. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is at present the president of the Institute Body (IB) of the AIIMS here. It has come to the notice of the competent authority that invitations for functions are being extended to high dignitaries without the knowledge of the president, AIIMS, New Delhi. It is directed that such invitations are to be extended only with the approval of the president, AIIMS through director, AIIMS, New Delhi, said the memorandum issued on October 1. The order has been sent to all deans of academic, research and examination departments, chiefs of centres, medical superintendent, and heads of departments. Section 11(1) of the AIIMS Act, 1956 clearly says the director of the institute is the Chief Executive Officer of the institute, and is in charge of th

Preliminary report suggests lapse in manufacturing process at Maiden Pharma

The firm has been in news for supplying contaminated cough syrups to Gambia, which is linked to the deaths of 66 children due to the presence of contaminants

Data story: India logs 2,139 new Covid cases; death toll reaches 528,835

India has added 16,599 cases in the past 7 days

India's first Covid cure Vincov-19 completes second phase clinical trial

Completes phase 2 trials successfully on 200 patients

Data story: India records 1,957 new Covid cases, lowest count in 140 days

India has added 16,928 cases in the past 7 days

Data story: India adds 2,424 new Covid cases; active tally at 28,079

On October 10, it added 2,424 cases to take its total caseload to 44,614,437

Data story: India adds 2,696 new Covid cases; active tally at 28,593

India has added 17,526 cases in the past 7 days

Substantial reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure, says health ministry

The 2018-19 National Health Accounts estimates show a substantial reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), reaffirming the government's commitment towards easing citizens' financial burden, the health ministry said Friday, rejecting reports that questioned the accuracy of data. The ministry termed such media reports "misleading and incorrect". In a statement, the ministry said the criticism of NHA 2018-19 is a "typical prima facie example of ignoring facts and sound reason" and leaving the mantle of justification to the others. The NHA provides detailed information on expenditure incurred within the health sector of the country. "The recent NHA estimates (2018-19) show a substantial reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), reaffirming the government's commitment towards easing the citizens' financial burden," the statement said. It said calling this data a "mirage" by one expert of health economics working in a private Indian University and quoted in certain sections o