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Lessons from WHO’s H1N1 pandemic scare

The World Health Organisation, (WHO) born in 1948 with the lofty ideal of providing leadership on global health matters, stands discredited by a major scandal over declaring a “...

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Disabled get heard, for a change

 A democratic protest never gets a hearing in the government. The government only responds to violent demonstrations. This has often been said about the government and most often this has been true....

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We don't need no legislation: doctors

On Doctors Day celebrated on July 1 in India, at a seminar on medical ethics several eminent doctors waxed eloquent on the subject. Interestingly, most of them talked of how ethics cannot be regulated...

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Gates' billions for you-no strings attached?

Last week, an article on Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation becoming one of the biggest donors for the World Health Organisation (WHO) had many exclaiming how wonderful a man Gates is to give away so...

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India throws poor to the wolves

In India medicines constitute almost 80% of the total health expenditure in the country and the expense on drugs is the second most common cause of indebtednessin the country. Yet, the pharmaceutical...

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26 measles vaccine deaths in 3 years, no investigative report yet

In less than three years, 26 absolutely healthy babies died in seven different places across the country soon after receiving the measles vaccine. The government, instead of coming up with stringent...

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UN's corporate ties bringing it disrepute?

It was launched with great fanfare as the biggest private partnership for public good. Now, the United Nation's partnership with corporates, the Global Compact, has been criticised as an alliance...

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Big pharma buying their way out of criminal charges

The record-setting settlement has raised several questions about the system of justice. What can the $3 billion fine for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) mean to people who have been affected adversely or have...

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Public healthcare: Brazil blazes a trail for the US

Long queues, waiting lists, and inefficiency are said to be the hallmark of public health services. That seemed true of private service in the US when it came to getting vaccinated for yellow fever....

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Free healthcare: Betting on Brazil

Should the state provide healthcare? Could healthcare be a fundamental right? In the US, such questions can dominate an entire presidential campaign, split the country, and yet see no resolution. In...

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Healthcare that is free but insufficient

Elisangela dos Santos (42) is a single mother who lives in Nova Iguaçu, an impoverished area to the north of Rio de Janeiro. Her two children, Benedita (10) and William (8), are afflicted by...

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Dreaming of a world free of hunger and want

“Imagine all the people, with a basic income to live” would probably have been a line in John Lennon’s immortal song, Imagine. Then again, maybe not. Words like income and basic are probably too...

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Giving voice to the periphery

When I started this blog, I had promised that it would not only be about public policy and development issues, but would also feature stories of inspiring individuals, stories of hope and human spirit....

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Cash transfer no substitute for efficient public services

Bolsa Familia, the program of conditional cash transfers to poor families is hailed as the most successful social program for poverty alleviation. But can one program be the single magic bullet?...

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Nirbhaya shifted in her interests or govt interests?

The shifting of the 23-year-old rape survivor to a Singapore hospital has raised innumerable questions about government intentions rather than reassuring the public of the government’s ‘best...

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Clinical trial related injury, deaths: Does the govt care?

  Registering all clinical trials was made mandatory in 2005. But till today, there seems to be little clarity regarding exactly how many people have died or had to suffer serious adverse events due to...

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Industry funding for pediatrics body: Criticism from within

On the face of it, the way the Indian Academy of Pediatrics claims that there can be no conflict of interest in its close association with the vaccine industry seems quite inexplicable. After all,...

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Is global alliance for improved nutrition an NGO?

The World Health Organisation’s standing committee on Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) deferring the accreditation of Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) as an NGO (...

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Can govt share values with repeat offenders among corporates?

A few days back , a report from Indonesia in the Guardian newspaper explained how the baby-formula making company, Danone, in the name of running training for midwives, was distributing gifts for...

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IAP reforms: transformative or cosmetic?

The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP)’s has dismantled its Committee on Immunisation which recommends vaccines to be included in the annual immunization schedule. It is being reconstituted as IAP...

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