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Category: Editorials
April 01, 2006
The proposal to permit the dismantling of the French ship Clemenceau, containing several tonnes of asbestos and other toxic material, led to a lot of discussion in the media. The discussion centred on the pros and cons of permitting the import of hazardous waste from developed countries despite i...
April 01, 2006
More than 3 million cases of dog bite occur annually in India and hundreds of thousands of people are exposed to the risk of contracting rabies. But they are deprived of the free anti-rabies vaccine due to several unethical practices of the government and pharmaceutical companies.
January 01, 2006
The avian influenza (bird flu) scare is very current in the media Different H and N types of influenza viruses infect birds, mammals and humans. Flu is very common among birds, but is almost always asymptomatic or only mildly pathogenic. Normally, avian flu does not infect humans. Since 1996, a n...
January 01, 2006
In two recent Delhi High Court cases, judges recorded that girls below the age of 18 may willingly enter into marriage. The declaration that marriages involving girls below the legal age of marriage are "neither void nor illegal" has several implications for adolescent health as well as for healt...
January 01, 2006
A major development on Intellectual Property Rights in October 2005 went virtually unnoticed. The General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reached an agreement to continue work on a development agenda for WIPO that was being pushed for by most developing countries. ...
July 01, 2005
The debate on end-of-life care is just beginning in India but has been going on in developed countries for some decades. Since our conditions are markedly different from those in Europe or America, it is good that we are charting our own path.
October 01, 2005
Starting on the afternoon of July 26, 2005, Mumbai was hit by the highest rainfall ever experienced anywhere in the country. Hundreds of people lost their lives; hundreds of thousands lost their homes, property and livelihoods. Though the municipal and state governments had apparently been appris...
October 01, 2005
The Supreme Court recently stated in Dr Jacob Mathew's case that in order to make a doctor criminally responsible for the death of a patient, it must be established that there was negligence or incompetence on the doctor's part which went beyond a mere question of compensation on the basis of civ...
April 01, 2005
A recently reported Supreme Court of India order has far-reaching implications for one of India's largest public health programmes. In response to a Public Interest Litigation, the Court noted: "For the time being, no doctor without gynaecological training for at least five years' post degree exp...
April 01, 2005
A National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was officially launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 12, 2005. The mission document and the implementation framework were developed after 10 months of strategising. The NRHM reportedly aims to fulfil one of the most important commitments of the ...