Page 2 - India Healthcare

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

Crisis-hit Paytm woos merchants with health plan at Rs 35 a month

Paytm's health care plan offers merchant partners benefits such as unlimited doctor 'teleconsultation' and in-person doctor visits

Ayushman Bharat, Schedule M on health ministry and DoP's top agenda

Industry sources say Centre is considering increasing coverage under Ayushman Bharat scheme to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 5 lakh

Revolutionizing Healthcare with AI: Introducing a Breakthrough in Patient Care through Facial Emotion Recognition Technology

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SC seeks Centre's reply on PIL seeking palliative care in health programme

The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on Thursday on a PIL seeking a direction to authorities to provide palliative care to terminally-ill persons as part of the national health programme. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions made by senior advocate Jayna Kothari, who appeared in the court on behalf of the petitioner, that palliative care should be recognised and made part of the national health programme. The court did not agree to one of the prayers in the public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by Bengaluru resident Rajshree Nagaraju that the right to get palliative care be declared as a part of right to health under Article 21 (protection of life and liberty) of the Constitution. "You seek mandamus (a writ) stating palliative care comes under Article 21. I do not think that you need to pursue this prayer. The right to palliative care is part of the right to health and life.... ...

2,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras to be opened via Primary Agri Credit Societies

In the last nine years, around Rs 26,000 crores of poor people's money has been saved through the Jan Aushadhi Kendras

Medway Hospitals raises $5m in funding round led by Kyra Ventures

Chennai-based group operates eight multi-multispeciality hospitals that provide range of services

Maharashtra logs 131 fresh Covid-19 cases, positivity rate at 1.05%

Maharashtra on Sunday recorded 131 fresh COVID-19 cases after testing 12,405 samples at a positivity rate of 1.05 per cent, the state health department said. No fatalities are reported. A day earlier, the state had logged 172 COVID-19 infections. Out of 8,76,33,748 laboratory samples tested until Sunday (since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020), 81,72,836 have tested positive for COVID-19, as per the health department. With 51 patients discharged on Sunday, the overall number of recoveries in the state stood at 80,23,576 at a recovery rate of 98.17 per cent. The week from December 24 to 31 saw 751 cases compared to the preceding week from December 17 to 24 when only 103 infections were recorded. 19 cases each were reported from December 3 to 9 and from December 10 to 16, as per the health department. Maharashtra has so far reported 29 cases of JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron till Sunday. District-wise distribution is Pune 15, Thane 5, Beed 3, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 2 and

GSK Pharma surges 7%, nears record high on healthy business outlook

Since November, the stock has appreciated by 36% after the company reported earnings improvement in Q2FY24 on strong demand for its vaccines and general medicine.

Shot stories: Meet Bharat Biotech's Krishna Ella, the man behind Covaxin

As the pandemic raged, India developed its own vaccine. Those weren't easy days, Ella, the man behind Covaxin, tells Sohini Das

India's 95% population uninsured, 73% lack health coverage: Report

As much as 95 per cent of the country's population is uninsured despite the government and the insurance regulator's efforts to expand coverage, National Insurance Academy said in a report, which was released on Thursday. Unveiling the report, Irdai Chairman Debasish Panda urged the industry to emulate steps that led to the massive success of the UPI, opening of bank accounts, as well as mobile penetration. Panda said a compulsory natural calamity insurance in high-risk regions -- as recommended in the report -- is needed if the country wants to achieve insurance for all by the time the nation completes a hundred years as a republic. According to the report, 95 per cent of the country's population of 144 crore is uncovered. The high prevalence of lack of insurance coverage assumes importance in the light of the increase in the number of natural calamities and other climate-related disasters to hit the country. Further, it said 84 per cent people from low- and middle-income categor

Jan Aushadhi scheme has saved citizens Rs 7,416 crore this fiscal: Govt

The over 10,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country have led to savings of around Rs 7,416 crore for the citizens this financial year, Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday. In a written reply in the Upper House, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said an unprecedented 150 times growth in annual sales has been witnessed by the scheme in the last 9 years. "During the financial year 2022-23, Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) has sold Jan Aushadhi medicines worth Rs 1,236 crore, with approx 40 per cent growth from the previous year and this has led to savings of approximately Rs 7,416 crore to the citizens," he noted. The projected sales target for 2023-24 is Rs 1,400 crore and the scheme is growing at a very fast pace garnering public trust and confidence, Khuba said. In all, during the past nine years, total savings have been estimated at more than Rs 23,000 crore for the citizens under this scheme, he stated. On an average 10-12

Indian states' health departments on alert as China pneumonia cases spike

Union health ministry advised states to immediately review preparedness

India needs additional 2.4 mn hospital beds for recommended ratio: Report

India needs an additional 2.4 million (24 lakh) hospital beds to reach the recommended ratio of 3 beds per 1,000 people, fuelling the demand for healthcare-related real estate space, according to Knight Frank. Currently, India has an estimated 70,000 hospitals, of which 63 per cent are from the private sector, global real estate consultant Knight Frank and US-based Berkadia said in their report released on Thursday. "India is facing a deficit of 2 billion sq ft of healthcare space to cater to its current population base of 1.42 billion people," Knight Frank India said in a statement. India has a considerable gap between the number of hospital beds available in the country and the number of hospital beds required. "India's existing bed-to-population ratio is 1.3/1000 population (both private and public hospitals included), and there is a deficit of 1.7/1000 population. To cater to the existing population, there is an additional requirement of 2.4 million beds," the consultant ...

Practo aims to turn profitable in FY24, targets 50% revenue growth

Practo's co-founder and chief executive officer Shashank ND said that they have been focusing on profitability and so far in FY24, they have been cash flow positive

Endemic is the new normal as daily Covid cases top 10,000 in India

Lack of Covid-appropriate behaviour rampant at hospitals across country, but many are geared up for any emergency

Nationwide Covid mock drill underway to take stock of preparedness

Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, mock drills to take stock of hospital preparedness are being held in several public and private facilities across the country on Monday. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the city to review the mock drill there. India logged 5,880 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have increased to 35,199. The death toll has increased to 5,30,979 with 14 deaths, according to the health ministry data updated on Monday. In a review meeting held on April 7, Mandaviya had urged state health ministers to visit hospitals and oversee the mock drills on April 10 and 11. In the meeting with state health ministers, and principal and additional chief secretaries held virtually, Mandaviya had stressed the need to identify emergency hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) cases, ramping up testing and vaccination, and ensuring readiness of hospital ...

What is the new Covid subvariant Omicron BF.7?

The new SARS- CoV-2 variant BF. 7 has started spreading in the countrys. While, experts say there are no serious concerns for India, Thareek Ahmed decodes the new Covid-19 variant BF.7

Lupin to enter cardio-vascular therapeutics space in 10 cities by Feb

Move will mark firm's digital healthcare foray 18 months after announcement; firm also plans to enter mental and respiratory illness segments, cover 28-30 cities by CY 2023-end

India lacks adequate community level data for hypertension control: Lancet

More than 50 per cent of patients in India are unaware of their high blood pressure, finds a study published in Lancet Regional Health Journal