The paper examines the state of public sector hospitals, how they are being compelled to transform into profit churning units through reforms, and in the process alienating poor and the underprivileged groups from public hospital inpatient care.

Decentralising health services – the transfer of power and responsibility from the central to the local level should help the poor if local resources, accountability and governance are in good shape. The process in China and India had negative effects because local governments remained...

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. During fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, researching the changing costs of...

The paper presents an analysis of the reproductive health care services available to women in rural areas in Karnataka, and the various factors influencing them. Based on survey data on the status of Primary Health Centres (PHCs), and the availability of maternal health services, we analyze the...

As developing countries build allopathic medical systems, what should their bioethics be? In this essay, we explore possible answers to this question, ultimately arguing that Western bioethics is insuffi cient to solve the problems that arise in the practice of allopathic medicine in...

Mortality rates have fallen dramatically over time, starting in a few countries in the 18th century, and continuing to fall today. In just the past century, life expectancy has increased by over 30 years. At the same time, mortality rates remain much higher in poor countries, with a difference...

Over 75% of the annual estimated 9.5 million deaths in India occur in the home, and the large majority of these do not have a certified cause. India and other developing countries urgently need reliable quantification of the causes of death. They also need better epidemiological evidence about...

Much needs to be done in the area of lowering child mortality and maternal mortality in Andhra Pradesh, although trends from a survey in one district indicate some progress. The paper makes some recommendations for policy initiatives on the basis of field work dat. The paper is based on research...

There have been reports of a large number of maternal deaths in recent months from Barwani, Madhya Pradesh with many of the deaths taking place in the District Hospital (DH), Barwani. This issue was initially raised by the local grassroots organisation Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) and...

TRIPS is a reality and India has to rework its patent law to conform to it. But that does not mean that we have a patent law that provides for TRIPS plus rules. Our interest lies in taking full advantage of any flexibility available in the agreement