Nagpur, Dec 12 (IANS) Maharashtra Public Health Minister Prakash Abitkar, on Friday, told the state Assembly that 14,526 children have died in seven districts of the state over the past three years, attributing the data to government records. Minister Abitkar placed the figures in a written reply to a query raised by BJP legislator Sneha Dubey.According to the Minister, between 2022-23 and 2024-25, Pune, Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nagpur, Amravati, Akola and Yavatmal districts reported a…

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Novo Nordisk on Friday launched its blockbuster weight-loss drug Ozempic in India, beginning at Rs 8,800 a month or four weeks.Ozempic — a once-weekly injectable formulation of semaglutide — is approved in India for adults with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes, along with diet and exercise.The drug is available in three dosage forms — 0.25mg, 0.5 mg, and 1mg — in a single-use pre-filled pen called Novofine Needles designed for painless subcutaneous injection, the drug ma…

New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Thalassemia patients on Friday hailed the introduction of the National Blood Transfusion Bill in Parliament and urged members to pass the life-saving bill at the earliest.Earlier this month, during the Winter session of the Parliament, the National Blood Transfusion Bill, 2025, was proposed by MP Parshottambhai Rupala in Lok Sabha and by Dr Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade in Rajya Sabha.The Bill aims to regulate the collection, testing, processing, storage, distribution, issuan…

New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that families of private doctors and health professionals who lost their lives while performing Covid-19 duties cannot be excluded from the Centre’s Rs 50 lakh insurance scheme. A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan delivered the ruling in an appeal filed by the widow of Dr B.S. Surgade, a private practitioner who succumbed to Covid-19 in June 2020 after keeping his clinic open during the lockdown. The Bombay High Court h…

Kabul, Dec 11 (IANS) The United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has warned that 1.7 million children in Afghanistan are at risk of death due to severe malnutrition and termed the situation as “shocking.” In his remarks during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on Wednesday, Fletcher stated that food insecurity has further exacerbated this winter, with many life-saving food distributions suspended. He further said that 1.1 million children do not have access to vital a…

New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) The employee medical plan costs in India are expected to rise by 11.5 per cent in 2026, down from 13 per cent projected for 2025, according to a report on Thursday.The report by global professional services firm Aon showed that this moderation signals a stabilisation after two years of sharp increases. It also aligns with a broader trend across the Asia Pacific, where the average medical trend rate is expected to be 11.3 per cent.Medical trend rates represent the annual …

Imphal, Dec 10 (IANS) Even as the intensity of the dengue outbreak in Manipur has declined, four more people in the two Imphal Valley districts tested positive for the vector-borne disease, taking the total number of cases to 5,502 so far this year, officials said on Wednesday. As per the report released by S. Priyokumar Singh, State Malaria Officer, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, four fresh dengue cases were reported from Imphal West (3) and Imphal East (1) districts.According…

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) An estimated 23 per cent of women aged 15 and above faced intimate partner violence (IPV), which includes physical and sexual abuse by current or former partners, in India in 2023, according to a new report published in the journal The Lancet on Wednesday.More than 30 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men aged 15 and above are also estimated to have experienced sexual violence as a child in the country.Globally, the number of women aged 15 and older exposed to sexual …

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), on Wednesday rolled out a month-long campaign in the Delhi Metro to boost the health and well-being of women and girls.The campaign, which began at the Sultanpur Metro Station, “will run through December and January, delivering messages on women’s safety, mental health support, digital inclusion, Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) and TB awareness across me…

Seoul, Dec 9 (IANS) South Korea on Tuesday reported another highly pathogenic avian influenza infection at a duck farm in South Jeolla Province, marking the eighth such case at a poultry farm this season.The latest case was detected in Yeongam, 380 kilometers south of Seoul, and marks the first from a duck farm this season, according to agricultural authorities, reports Yonhap news agency.Authorities issued a 24-hour standstill order on all duck farms, and related facilities and vehicles nationw…