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The COVID-19 pandemic, in India, illustrated the need to enhance the country’s capabilities in confronting biological threats, particularly through early detection and timely intervention. Although the pandemic has ended, the threat of new and re-emerging zoonotic viruses remains, the most recent cases being the Nipah virus (NiV) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) outbreaks; there is also the risk of accidental or intentional biological threats

Many countries imposed stringent lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden, however, adopted a ‘soft’ approach of self-imposed social precautions without state regulation. This evoked extensive criticism within and outside the country, especially in view of its high death rates in comparison to its Nordic neighbours. The Swedish government, however, has been steadfast with its strategy. As countries emerge from lockdowns and begi

As industries slowed to a near halt in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital economy received a boost—especially from consumers forced to rely on virtual means to meet their needs. Businesses turned to the virtual workspace, adopting new productivity tools to retain their workforce. This brief studies the case of Africa, where tech played a role in pandemic response, and e-commerce players reported increases in orders and custo

The number of malnourished children in India has increased significantly between the time of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) and the fifth round (2019-2020), and the progress in the first half of the decade has been reversed. This paper tells the story of the Northeast region of India, where malnutrition is worse than the country average. It examines the policy landscape in the region, evaluates current programmes and initiat

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) with biotechnology has ushered in a period of innovation in healthcare. The interdisciplinary nature of AI enables it to analyse and interpret large data sets from multiple domains. In the case of the life sciences, AI-biotech convergence holds the potential to alter the landscape of diagnostics, monitoring of disease progression, precision medicine, and prediction of public health threats.

The rapid development of genetic engineering technologies has created multiple opportunities for treating genetic diseases and improving human health. However, genetic engineering technology poses ethical, societal, and security challenges. This brief explores these risks, focusing on those related to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the revival of ideologies that consider some races to be “more suitable” than others. The brief also

Globally, healthcare has made great strides in making vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics available to more people. Yet, infectious diseases continue to pose a significant threat in many parts of the world, and the SARS, Ebola, and Zika crises are only a few of the recent outbreaks that draw attention to the weaknesses of public health systems. In India, the recent epidemics of Nipah virus and acute encephalitis syndrome call attention to the

Care work, both paid and unpaid, is at the heart of most economies. The care sector comprises formal healthcare, childcare services, early childhood education, disability and long-term care, and eldercare. Two-thirds of care workers globally are women, and women and girls perform more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the vulnerability of care workers and deepened the gender gap. This paper a

Education in India is compulsory and free for primary and middle school, yet about 20 percent of children aged 6-14 remain absent. Analysts offer various explanations for India’s continued challenges in ensuring universal basic education, including lack of access to schools and poor educational environment. In this context, an index measuring the health of the early education system can be a valuable tool. This paper devises a Performance, Infr

The BRICS+ bloc, accounting for over 40 percent of the world’s population and a substantial share of its forest area, can play a critical role in shaping responses to climate-related health threats. The grouping’s leadership in harmonising policies across the domains of climate action and healthcare can have profound implications for global strategies to manage pandemics and protect planetary health. This brief makes a case for BRICS to champ

Maternal nutrition impacts not only the woman’s health during pregnancy but also that of her newborn; the child’s health in their first 1,000 days of life, in turn, will influence outcomes during childhood. Indeed, maternal undernutrition is estimated to account for 20 percent of childhood stunting in India. It is therefore important to ensure that women enter pregnancy in good health, as measured for example in adequate height and we

Like in some other regions of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated external debt accumulation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This could have massive, adverse impacts on growth as governments prioritise debt servicing commitments over key development expenditures such as healthcare and education. For the countries in SSA with relatively lower GDP, this could mean getting caught in a vicious cycle of low output and mounting debt. A pa

The world is undergoing a process that some have called “covidisation”, or the unravelling of the manifold, far-reaching medical, economic, and social impacts of a global health emergency.[1] There is no dearth of analyses of the many health and economic dimensions of this first massive global civil emergency of the 21st century.[2] This brief examines the social aspect of the pandemic through two perspectives:  one is that of a repr

Despite advancements in legislation and representation over the last decades, women continue to face barriers in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare, legal protection against violence, and leadership roles. In the economic sphere, gender disparities persist in labour force participation, job sectors, wages, and unpaid care work. Women are constrained in participating in the labour market as their social role remains attached to domestic

Climate change exacerbates HMPV spread in India, requiring proactive measures like improved healthcare access, climate-health database, and AI-driven outbreak prediction for better crisis response.

In an effort to facilitate the digitisation of the country’s healthcare systems, India released a National Digital Health Blueprint in January 2020, which provides a detailed framework for a “Federated National Health Information System.” This brief makes a case for expanding the scope of the blueprint to include digital therapeutics, digital diagnostics, and telemedicine. It proposes a “National Digital Health Blueprint 2.0,” with dive

In April 2023, the Supreme Court of India advocated for the government to establish a "uniform national policy" on menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), spotlighting the need for comprehensive measures on a significant public health issue. This brief traces India's path to promoting MHH, highlighting key policy initiatives and their impact on period product usage. Using secondary data from the National Family Health Survey-5, this brief introduces

The achievement of global sustainable development goals (SDGs) depends largely on India’s progress, given the country’s massive size and its moderate historical success in key health and nutrition outcomes over the last several years. This further increases the relevance and need for effective monitoring of India’s performance, through timely and disaggregated data, which ensures systematic assessments and course-correction. As India will b

In September 2024, the Second UN High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) marked a critical juncture in global health governance. This report examines the key commitments and implementation challenges emerging from the meeting’s Political Declaration. While the declaration sets ambitious targets—such as reducing AMR-related deaths by 10 percent by 2030 and establishing US$100 million in sustainable funding—massive gaps remain. T

Four months since the outbreak of COVID-19, some vital unknowns about the pandemic remain, including IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) and immunity from reinfection. A clearer understanding of the risks posed by COVID-19, informed by science and data in the Indian context, will help the country in mustering an effective strategy to hurdle the crisis. The government must undertake mass antibody testing and scale up healthcare capacity across the count

High-density urban agglomerations may be sustainable in terms of the economies of scale their populations provide. Yet, as proven by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these same urban spaces are nearly defenceless in times of unprecedented disease outbreaks. A pandemic poses many risks to the millions who live in dense megacities, whether in wealthy countries or developing ones. The sheer density of the population of these cities provides an ideal e

Acknowledging health as a central component of urban planning and governance will help achieve health SDGs and ensure policy coherence.

Questions about the utility of globalisation are not new. Could the COVID-19 outbreak be the final nail on the coffin for an idea that drove the world economy in the past three decades?  In theory, countries would produce what they specialised in, leaving it to the market to ensure everyone got a better price for it. As 2020 began, the pandemic spread from one province of China and soon disrupted production across the world. Countries banned the

The healthcare industry is undergoing an unprecedented change. The affordability and quality of healthcare are being profoundly affected by increased globalization, competition, cost consciousness, regulations and new technologies. The US is expected to spend up to 20% of GDP on healthcare by 2015.

जगातील सर्वात प्रगत देश असल्याचा दावा करणाऱ्या आणि अनेकांच्या स्वप्नातील देश असणाऱ्या अमेरिकेतील आरोग्यव्यवस्थेचे पितळ कोरोनाच्या आकडेवारीने उघडे पाडले.

आयुष्मान भारत या केंद्र सरकारच्या आरोग्यविषयक योजनेची चिकित्सा करताना या योजनेचे महत्त्व आणि सकारात्मक बाजू लक्षात घेणेही गरजेचे आहे.

देशातील प्रत्येक नागरिकाच्या आरोग्याची नोंद ठेवणारे ‘हेल्थ कार्ड’ सुरू करून, भारताने आरोग्याच्या क्षेत्रात एक महत्त्वाचे पाऊल उचलले आहे.

आपण सगळेच दररोज इंटरनेटसारखी अनेक साधने वापरतो. या साधनांचा वापर सजगपणे करायला हवा आणि त्याच्या व्यापक परिणामांचाही विचार व्हायला हवा.

भारताला ग्लोबल मेडिकल व्हॅल्यू हब बनवण्यासाठी, आपण सध्याच्या आणि भविष्यातील पिढ्यांसाठी शाश्वत आणि न्याय्य आरोग्य निर्माण केले पाहिजे आणि आरोग्य आपत्कालीन परिस्थिती�

आसामातील जोऱ्हाटमधील डॉ.देबेन दत्ता यांची जमावाने केलेली हत्या ही देशातील प्रत्येक डॉक्टरच्या हिमतीची हत्या आहे. \

महाराष्ट्रात मुंबई, नागपूर, औरंगाबाद, बार्शी अशी चारच मोठी कॅन्सर उपचार रुग्णालये आहेत. किमान जिल्हा रुग्णालयात ऑन्कॉलॉजी विभाग त्वरीत सुरु करणे गरजेचे आहे.

तुरुंगातून सुटका झाल्यावर पुन्हा गुन्हा करण्याची प्रवृत्ती रोखण्यासाठी, या कैद्यांना पुन्हा सर्वमान्य जगता यायला हवे. त्यासाठी जगभर ‘योग’मार्ग वापरला जातोय.

२०१९मध्ये कोरोनाचा प्रभाव सुरू झाला. २०२० हे या विषाणूपासून स्वत:ला वाचविण्याचे वर्ष आहे. २०२१ हे या विषाणूसह जगण्याचे वर्ष असेल. त्यासाठी सज्ज राहायला हवे.

आपली आरोग्यव्यवस्था कशी बदलणे गरजेचे आहे, याचे झणझणीत अंजन कोरोनाने घातले आहे. अशा साथीच्या आजारांना रोखण्यासाठी आरोग्याचे हे नवे धडे गिरवावेच लागतील.

निर्णयप्रक्रियेचे विकेंद्रीकरण, प्राथमिक आरोग्य केंद्रांवर लक्ष आणि विकास आराखडा बनविणे या महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टी कोरोनाकाळात मुंबईने शिकविल्या.

एकेकाळी सॉफ्ट पॉवर म्हणून ओळख असलेली आणि आंतरराष्ट्रीय सहकार्याचा आधारस्तंभ बनलेली जागतिक आरोग्य मुत्सद्देगिरी एका वळणावर उभी आहे. जागतिक आरोग्य संघटनेतून अमेरिकेने �

भारताचे सर्वसमावेशक आरोग्य उपायांवर लक्ष केंद्रित करणे, सहकार्यावर भर देणे आणि संशोधनावर व नाविन्यपूर्णतेवर असलेली भारताची निष्ठा ही जागतिक आरोग्याकरता आशेचा किरण आह�

जैवबँक हा जैवभांडाराचा एक प्रकार आहे, ज्यात जीवशास्त्रीय संशोधनात वापरण्यासाठीचे जैविक नमुने (सामान्यतः मानवी) संग्रहित केले जातात आणि त्याचे परिणाम विविध देशांतील लो�

तरुण प्रौढांमध्ये मृत्यूचे अचानक प्रमाण वाढलेली आहे असे एका अभ्यासातून समोर आलेले आहे. यागोष्टीचे मात्र covid-19 लसीकरणाची फारसा संबंध नसून जीवनशैलीशी बरेच काही जुळणारे आहे

महिलांना आरोग्यसेवा मिळवून देण्यासाठी आणि त्यांना सक्षम बनविण्यासाठी फेमटेक हे एक महत्त्वाचे साधन असल्याचे सिद्ध होईल.