With West Bengal joining the scheme, Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY now covers every state and Union Territory in India. While the world’s largest government-funded health insurance programme has expanded financial protection and healthcare access, improving service quality and equitable access remains the next priority.
India’s Jal Jeevan Mission has dramatically expanded rural tap water coverage since 2019, but the focus is now shifting from installing taps to ensuring reliable, safe, and uninterrupted water supply across villages.
Maharashtra has prohibited the sale, advertising, and free distribution of HFSS foods within 50 metres of schools to address rising childhood obesity. While health experts support the move, concerns remain over enforcement, informal vendors, and the effectiveness of complementary measures such as front-of-package nutrition labeling.
The BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting marked a historic milestone by formally integrating traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine into the bloc’s healthcare agenda, emphasizing scientific validation, AI, research collaboration, and global health equity.
India plans to increase coal gasification capacity to 100 MTPA by 2030 to reduce imports and boost domestic production. However, environmental experts warn that pollution, carbon emissions, water stress, and public health concerns could undermine the promise of “clean coal.”
India is losing thousands of trained women doctors before they reach specialization or leadership roles. This growing gender gap affects not only medical careers but also access to quality healthcare for millions of women.
India has approved Qdenga, its first-ever dengue vaccine, marking a major milestone in public health. While the vaccine offers protection against dengue for people aged 4–60, it will initially be available only through the private market, raising questions about affordability and equitable access.
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.
Western Europe registered its hottest June on record as heat-breaking weather smashed national temperature records across several European nations within days this summer. Temperatures in Denmark topped 37C – beating a previous high that has stood since 1975 – as 39.4C in the Netherlands on June 26 set a new national high, and Bilbao in…
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…
