Healthcare Sector

World Health Day 2023: Here's a look at govt healthcare schemes for all

From the Universal Immunisation Programme to the setting up of National tele-mental health centers, here is a look at some of the initiatives undertaken by the government of India to ensure health for

Morepen Labs zooms 18% on USFDA nod with NIL observations for HP facility

Earlier this month, the company had incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Morepen RX.

India was world's No. 1 in handling Covid: Apollo Hospitals founder

In a Q&A, Prathap Chandra Reddy talks about the need to focus on medical tourism and medical education to meet the demand of 18 million professionals in the sector by 2030

Guidelines on medical negligence under consideration: Union Health ministry

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken up for consideration the healthcare sector's long-standing demand to frame guidelines for determining medical negligence cases, a reply to an RTI query revealed. Though there is no guideline at present, the matter is under consideration, the ministry said in response to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on behalf of PTI. "So far, no guidelines have been framed. It is under consideration," said Sunil Kumar Gupta, undersecretary in the ministry's medical education policy section. Gupta, who is also the central public information officer, gave a written response to PTI when asked to provide information on "if the Union Health Ministry has framed any guidelines to handle cases of medical negligence in the country". It has been more than 17 years since the Supreme Court, for the first time in the Jacob Mathew case in 2005, directed the Centre to frame statutory rules in consultation with the-then medic

Need equitable access to digital innovations for women, girls: WHO

On the eve of International Women's Day on Tuesday, the WHO called for intensified action in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world to ensure that every woman and girl has equitable access to digital innovations that can support health and well-being. For both women and men, digital innovations and technologies hold immense potential to increase access to essential health services and improve health and well-being, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, World Health Organisation's Regional Director for South-East Asia. However, gender inequality constrains the ability of women and girls to benefit, compounding existing inequities in health outcomes, she said. An estimated 61 per cent of women in the Asia Pacific use the internet, compared to 75 per cent of men. Women are about 12 per cent less likely to own mobile phones than men, and among those who don't own mobile phones, women outnumber men by 39 per cent, Singh said in a statement. Women are under-represented in technology sector jobs

Facebook co-founder's VC firm B Capital closes health fund, commits $500 mn

Technological advancements in biology, artificial intelligence, and automation are transforming the healthcare industry, with business models seeing the convergence of traditional players in novel way

US-based healthtech firm Nomad Health lays off 17% of its workforce

US-based Nomad Health, a healthcare staffing start-up, has laid off 17 per cent of its workforce this week, amid tough macroeconomic conditions

Prime Minister Trudeau says Canadian healthcare isn't living up to promise

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada's health care system isn't living up to its promise, and he plans to add billions more in funding. Trudeau said wait times in emergency departments have become dangerously long, people are waiting too long for essential surgeries and millions of Canadians are without a family doctor. "For generations, public health care has been a core part of what it means to be Canadian. It's built on a promise that no matter where you live, or what you earn, you will always be able to get the medical care you need. But right now, our health care system isn't living up to that promise," Trudeau said. "Canadians deserve better," he said. Trudeau's Liberal Party government has presented a new health care funding offer that would see Ottawa shift Canadian Dollar 196 billion (USD 146 billion) over the next 10 years to the provinces and territories, which oversee health care in the country. The government has set conditions for the extra

Diarrhoea cases in Himachal villages cross 1,200-mark in last three days

Diarrhoea cases in villages of Hamirpur district's Nadaun sub-division are estimated to have crossed 1,200 in the last three days, Health department officials said on Tuesday. The exact figure will be available later in the day, they said. According to government data, 868 cases were reported till Monday night. Of the total, one patient is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Nadaun is the assembly constituency of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Preliminary tests of water samples have not indicated any contamination, Jal Shakti department officials said. Neeraj Bhogal, a superintending engineer in the department, said water samples of all schemes on Kunah khad would be taken daily and sent to a laboratory in Chandigarh. The Chandigarh lab is better equipped for such tests. Until the water quality is ascertained, it will not be supplied, he said. Water to the affected villages is supplied from nearby khads under various schemes of the Jal Shakti ...

Scientists develop new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously

Scientists have developed a new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and that could be used to repair the damage to cardiac tissue resulting from a heart attack. The researchers at the University of California (UC) San Diego, US, also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension, the study said. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models, according to the study. "This biomaterial allows for treating damaged tissue from the inside out," said Karen Christman, a professor at UC San Diego, and the lead researcher on the team that developed the material. "It's a new approach to regenerative engineering," said Christman. A study on the safety and efficacy of the biomaterial in human subjects could start within one to two years, Christman .

Covid still a global health emergency but nearing 'inflection' point: WHO

The coronavirus remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Monday, after a key advisory panel found the pandemic may be nearing an inflexion point where higher levels of immunity can lower virus-related deaths. Speaking at the opening of WHO's annual executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is no doubt that we're in a far better situation now than a year ago when the highly transmissible Omicron variant was at its peak. But Tedros warned that in the last eight weeks, at least 1,70,000 people have died around the world in connection with the coronavirus. He called for at-risk groups to be fully vaccinated, an increase in testing and early use of antivirals, an expansion of lab networks, and a fight against misinformation about the pandemic. "We remain hopeful that in the coming year, the world will transition to a new phase in which we reduce hospitalizations and deaths to the lowest possible level, he ...

New blood test can detect Alzheimer's 3.5 yrs before diagnosis: Scientists

Scientists have developed a blood-based test that could be used to predict the risk of Alzheimer's disease up to 3.5 years before clinical diagnosis. The research, published in the journal Brain, supports the idea that components in the human blood can modulate the formation of new brain cells, a process termed neurogenesis. Neurogenesis occurs in an important part of the brain called the hippocampus that is involved in learning and memory. While Alzheimer's disease affects the formation of new brain cells in the hippocampus during the early stages of the disease, previous studies have only been able to study neurogenesis in its later stages through autopsies. To understand the early changes, researchers collected blood samples over several years from 56 individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition where someone will begin to experience a worsening of their memory or cognitive ability. While not everyone experiencing MCI goes on to develop Alzheimer's disease, tho

China claims Covid wave is past its peak, but experts remain wary

Chinas health authorities have said the Covid-19 wave is past its peak, with rapid decline in both severe cases and deaths in hospitals, but experts remain wary of the governments official data

Macleods Pharma recalls 10,000 bottles of anti-bacterial medication in US

Macleods Pharmaceuticals is recalling around 10,000 bottles of generic antibiotic medication in the US market due to a labelling error, according to the US health regulator. As per the latest enforcement report by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Macleods Pharma Inc, a US-based unit of the company, is recalling 10,052 bottles of Levofloxacin tablets, which are used to treat different types of bacterial infections. The company is recalling the affected lot due to"mismatching of the embossing on the tablets with the embossing mentioned in the package insert in the distributed bottles." Macleods manufactured the affected lot in its Baddi-based manufacturing plant in Himachal Pradesh. The company initiated the Class III recall in the US and Puerto Rico on January 5. As per the USFDA, a Class III recall is initiated in a situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences. The US generic drug market was estimate

Budget 2023-24 wishlist: Here're the key challenges in healthcare sector

Covid has highlighted the need for adequate infrastructure and health care workforce, especially doctors and nurses

Dr Reddy's Lab Q3 net up 77% at Rs 1,247 cr, revenue from operations jump

Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Wednesday reported a 77 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,247 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2022. The drug firm had reported a net profit of Rs 706 crore in the October-December period of the previous fiscal. Revenue from operations rose to Rs 6,770 crore during the period under review as against Rs 5,320 crore in the year-ago period, Dr Reddy's Laboratories said in a regulatory filing.

Digital trials drive new technologies in health care

Just as the ECG sensor on your health app uses electrical sensors on the back of the wearable wristband to measure heart health, EEG sensors embedded in ear buds can measure brain health

Pharma, healthcare Q3FY23 preview: Cost pressures abating to aid margins

Hospitals are expected to report a soft Q3 result due to a mix of seasonality and easing pent-up demand, however, average revenue per occupied bed is likely to remain steady

Need to build resilient health system across world: India at G20 Health

MoS Health said that emergency preparedness was no longer an initiative in isolation, but rather "an overarching priority" which "requires efforts to build resilient health systems

Stocks to Watch: Infy, HCL Tech, Sah Polymers, Concor, IIFL Wealth, RailTel

Stocks to Watch: Infosys and HCL Technologies to announce Q3 results; Sah Polymers to debut on Thursday.