Lessons from COVID-19: Strengthening the public health system in India or accelerating privatisation?

  When Manisha’s husband passed away in a private hospital from Maharashtra state in October 2020 she was given a handwritten bill of Rs 14 lakh (18,892 USD). The hospital withheld his body for ten hours till the dues were settled. Sandeep Dhande was given a bill of 1.5 lakh (2,040 USD) on a piece […]

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Trade versus health: an old argument with new hope for tobacco control in India

By Monika Arora and Soumyadeep Bhaumik ‘Two steps forward, one step back’ is probably the most appropriate catchphrase to describe the arduous progress that India has made in the use of pictorial health warnings (PHW) on tobacco products. PHWs were first implemented in India in 2009 after repeated directives from High Courts and the Supreme Court […]

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Role of the private sector in epidemic response and preparedness

By Jennifer Esposito, Health & Life Sciences, Intel Corporation  In today’s interconnected world, pandemic disease threats have the potential to not only have a devastating human impact, but could also cost tens of billions of dollars to the global economy and private enterprise. These threats could exacerbate political and economic instability, and threaten the national […]

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