Page 4 - Health Sector

World Bank grants India $1.75 bn loan for health, private investment

The World Bank has approved loans totalling USD 1.75 billion (about Rs 13,834.54 crore) to fund India's PM Ayushman Bharat scheme and private investment to boost the economic growth. Of the total loan, USD 1 billion will go towards the health sector, while the rest USD 750 million will be in the form of development policy loan (DPL) to fill the financing gaps through private sector investment in the economy. The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved two complementary loans of USD 500 million each to support and enhance India's health sector. Through this combined financing of USD 1 billion, the World Bank will support India's flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, the World Bank said in a release on Friday. The funds will be used to improve public healthcare infrastructure across the country. In addition to the national-level interventions, one of the loans will prioritize seven states namely Andhra .

India's first mRNA Covid vaccine will be priced competitively, says company

Gemcovac does not require sub-zero temperatures for storage and transport, unlike two other international doses

Centre asks states to step up surveillance to curb Covid-19 spread

States have been asked to screen 2 per cent of international travellers randomly with RT-PCR tests and send all positive samples for genomic sequencing

Delayed diagnosis, reluctance to take booster dose pushing severe cases up

Patients are turning up many days after onset of symptoms, say doctors

MoH asks states to prepare for upcoming Yatras, contain Covid-19 spread

Calls for managing crowds at Amarnath, Chardham and other yatras, where large gatherings could help spread Covid-19 and other diseases

Education, health and personal care ads worst offenders: ASCI report

Regulator processed over 5,500 ads for its 2021-22 complaints report, 62% more than previous year

Home truths about door-to-door vaccinations for persons with disabilities

Denial of doses to persons without IDs, absence of segregated data and low awareness pose question mark on campaign

Step up Covid-19 testing and genome sequencing: Mansukh Mandaviya

India reported 13,313 new cases in the last 24 hours and the active caseload currently stands at 83,990

Rajasthan takes pole position for health insurance coverage: NFHS report

The National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) states 88 per cent of the households have at least one member covered by a health scheme or health insurance in Rajasthan

18% people in India reinfected with Covid-19 in last 6 months: Survey

Around 46 per cent of those surveyed said their second infection was more severe than the first one.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin induces wider immune response, say experts

However, experts say that Covaxin induces a wider immune response and thus antibody production against the spike protein may be less intense

Govt to work holistically in health sector, says Mansukh Mandaviya

Mansukh Mandaviya said that the goal of the Central Government is to work holistically in the health sector with synergy between preventive healthcare and modern medical facilities

Creative education, health to play big role for future economies: Basu

Speaking at eighth Pravin Visaria Memorial Public Lecture, Basu stated that for countries like India to emerge as a winner going forward, focusing on creative education and health sectors will be key

Promoters have no intention to exit business: Metropolis Healthcare

Promoters are focused on strengthening the Metropolis brand, although it continuously keeps exploring various strategic options/investment opportunities

G7 is united but not effective enough to tackle world's biggest problems

As G7 involves some of the largest economies in the world, there is greater acknowledgment that the glaring differences in economic security have spilled over to impact health security

Use Covid learning to boost global health: Adar Poonawalla to world leaders

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Monday said he is appealing to multilateral organisations and world leaders to come up with a draft about learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen health systems globally. The learnings from the global pandemic would help in addressing inequity in the health systems that are prevalent currently, Poonawalla said. "This year @Davos, I am appealing to multilateral organisations & world leaders to come together in creating a draft, learning from the lessons of the pandemic for a Global Pandemic Treaty to address inequity & strengthen global health systems," he tweeted. Pune-based SII is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced and sold globally. During the pandemic, the company not only supplied COVID-19 vaccines in India but also exported these to multiple nations.

Last-mile citizen priority for delivery of health services: Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday that the citizen in the last mile should be the priority for delivery of health services.

UP set to transform health sector in 2 years under Adityanath govt

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has chalked out a time-bound strategy to transform health sector in the state.

Centre urges states to take action on heat wave-related illnesses

In a communication to all chief secretaries of states and UTs, Union Health secy Rajesh Bhushan has sought daily surveillance reports on illnesses shared with NCDC

Eyeing over 15% market share in US for insulin Glargine: Shreehas Tambe

The geopolitical incidents of the recent past as well as the pandemic have not really helped cost pressure: Tambe