Tamil Nadu has been hailed as the “health destination of the country” by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu. While the success of Tamil Nadu’s health system is in its own right an achievement to be applauded, does the announcement by the Vice President serve to highlight a concern that disparities in the Indian healthcare system […]
Bihar
Assam flooding spreads as the region is lashed with rains
Assam has faced heavy flooding for several days, with the situation only deteriorating at the week’s end. As of Thursday, 4.2 lakh people across seventeen districts have been affected by the floodwaters. Many have been displaced, with 1,843 people taking refuge in relief camps as the waters submerge 749 villages. The flooding has gotten worse […]
Encephalitis is not just an issue in Bihar
When it comes to encephalitis, the eyes of India have largely focused on Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district where more than 140 children are believed to have lost their lives to the condition. However, over the course of recent weeks, reports of potential outbreaks have poured in from other parts of Bihar – and from other states. […]
For Muzaffarpur, a boon from the Centre after child death tragedy
After facing criticism for dismal health infrastructure in the state of Bihar the central government has informed the Supreme Court that it intends to fund a paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) in Muzaffarpur, the district at the centre of the state’s child death tragedy. More than 150 children have died in the state following an […]
Public health is in crisis in Bihar. Why isn’t it spending health funds?
The Centre issued Rs 88.5 crore to the Bihar state government in the last fiscal year to strengthen its public health system. Astonishingly, the state government spent less than one-third of it. The news comes at a time when the public health infrastructure in the state is being heavily scrutinised and castigated in many quarters […]
India’s shortage of specialist doctors is still staggering
July 1st marked Doctors’ Day – and while the occasion was an opportunity to thank the medical professionals who work to ensure good health, it also was a bitter reminder of the public health crisis India is facing. The government has put a figure to the mammoth medical staff shortage India is battling. The new […]
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar rank low on the Health Index while Kerala is at the top
![The BRD Medical College, centre of the Gorakhpur tragedy in Uttar Pradesh - the state named the worst in India for health. Image credit: By SONUKURIAN (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons By SONUKURIAN (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://d1o5numy7xgf2v.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BRD_MEDICAL_COLLEGEGORAKHPUR-150x150.jpg "Tragedy in Gorakhpur: Newborns die, oxygen shortages to blame?")
Kerala is yet again the undisputed king of healthcare management according to a recent report titled “Healthy States, Progressive India” compiled by Niti Aayog, on the state of India’s health. For the year 2017-18, Kerala topped the ranking of states and union territories with an overall score of 74.01, while Uttar Pradesh was the worst-performing […]
Malnutrition in Muzaffarpur – hotspot of Bihar’s encephalitis deaths
The outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district has raised eyebrows about the efficacy of healthcare infrastructure in the state. Now, one initiative aimed at combating malnutrition – implicated as a cause behind the crisis of encephalitis deaths among the district’s children – has come under scrutiny. The district ranked eighteenth out […]
Supreme Court intervenes in Bihar child deaths
The deaths of more than 100 children due to an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Bihar has come under the scanner of the Supreme Court. The tragedy has sparked national outrage and arrested international headlines. As the death toll passed 150 over the weekend, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Muzaffarpur district (where most […]
Public health infrastructure in Bihar is in the ICU
The recent tragic deaths of over a hundred children in Bihar has put the spotlight on the ailing public health infrastructure – both in the state and in the country. The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Centre and state governments over what it has termed “deplorable public health infrastructure” and reminded […]