The first 1,000 days, from conception to age two, are the most critical period for a child’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Learn how nutrition, maternal health, breastfeeding, and early care influence lifelong outcomes, and explore India’s progress in reducing child malnutrition through national nutrition initiatives.
India’s fertility rate has fallen below replacement level, reflecting a global demographic shift. A new UNFPA survey across 73 countries shows that financial insecurity, housing costs, and gender inequality—not changing family aspirations—are driving declining birth rates.
The recently released National Family Health Survey-6 (NFHS-6, 2023-24) by the Union Health Ministry details concrete gains across the country in significant public health and social indicators. Conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, the survey of approximately 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts provides district-level estimations on population, health, nutrition, and…
India’s food safety situation is at a crossroads. This regulatory architecture has been constructed over almost two decades and is supported by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), but is that it is being enforced on par with the scale and complexity of India’s food system, or are there a slew of…
A new WHO report finds that cancer survival increasingly hinges on geography and income, not biology — a pattern India’s own case load, insurance gaps and new prevention push all reflect. The new World Health Organisation’s first Global Status Report on Cancer 2026 – created with IARC – estimated that 20.6 million cancer cases and…
Malnutrition remains one of the most important and persistent public health problems in India. It is estimated that undernutrition directly or indirectly contributed to more than 68% of under five deaths in the country. Its long-term effects of cognition impairment, lesser educational outcomes, lesser productivity in life and intergenerational poverty are a structural drag on…
At 65.3% in 2026, up from 22% in 2016, India’s population covered by social protection schemes shows an almost three-fold increase over a decade – that’s the government’s interpretation based on the Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework (SDG-NIF) Progress Report by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) on the country’s 20th…
India’s monsoon season brings more than floods—it also triggers a surge in waterborne diseases, mental health challenges, and public health emergencies.
India’s prostate cancer surgeries are getting more precise. Whether patients can reach the operating table at all remains a separate, and far less technical, problem. As recently as 1990, the rate of prostate cancer was 11th in India, while today, according to the National Cancer Registry Programme, it is the third most common in the…
THE BIGGEST CHEQUE AN INDIAN DRUGMAKER HAS EVER WRITTEN Indian pharmaceutical companies have spent the better part of two decades quietly building global manufacturing reach, mostly through incremental capacity expansion and a steady drumbeat of mid-sized acquisitions. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries just broke entirely from that pattern. The company announced it will acquire New York-listed Organon…
