Policy Wise

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Foreign policy carries out an interesting exercise and lists the world’s healthiest countries. And yes there is a surprise too. No, America is certainly not on that list!
Quite naturally, it’s not exactly an objective exercise. They haven’t even bothered [...]

With huge investments by private donors including The Bill and Milinda Gztes Foundation, there has been renewed focus on anti-retroviral treatment for HIV+ patients in Africa. However, a new study reports that the retention rate for such treatment is low.
They found that two years on from the commencement of treatment, only 61.6% of all [...]

World Bank, after complaints launched by an Ohio based doctor is sending two consultants to India to evaluate HIV kits. It is being alleged that National AIDS control organization (NACO) is using substandard testing kits which give false-negative results,
 The bank has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into India through programs intended to prevent the [...]

And so is sex-determination

Policy Wise has in the past pointed out that it is futile to regulate women’s reproductive choices. A new study by the World Health organization brilliantly illustrates this point,
“We now have a global picture of induced abortion in the world, covering both countries where it is legal and countries where [...]

In another setback in the global fight against AIDS, the Step Study, the most promising in the efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine has failed,
a promising experimental AIDS vaccine failed to work in a large international test, leading the developer to halt the study. Merck & Co. said Friday that it is ending enrollment and [...]

Abortion is a right. So should be sex determination.

In a recent judgment, the Mumbai High Court has ruled against a plea seeking quashing of the amendment to Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT Act) which prohibits sex-determination. The petitioners argued that the PCPNDT Act in its current form was in conflict with [...]

An interesting new paper by Professor Charles Courtemanache argues just that,
A causal relationship between gasoline prices and obesity is possible through mechanisms of increased exercise and decreased eating in restaurants. I use a fixed effects model to explore whether this theory has empirical support, finding that an additional $1 in real gasoline prices would reduce [...]

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Photobiomodulation also known as low intensity laser therapy (LLLT) and cold laser therapy, is a medical procedure in which exposure to low level laser is said to enhance tissue growth. While the origin of laser theory is attributed to Albert Einstein, the technique of cold laser therapy [...]

The Dutch have unveiled a novel approach to health insurance,
Starting in 2006, the Netherlands has required all adults to buy their own health insurance, or pay a penalty. And insurers must offer policy to all comers, no matter how sick or old they are.
The government subsidizes policies for adults who can’t afford to [...]

Doordarshan, India’s national broadcaster has plans to launch a health channel. It is ostensibly meant to help medical students in India. The annual cost: 180 crores. The government will amend the Cable Television Netowrks(regulation) Act of 1995 to make it compulsory for cable operators to carry the channel.
However, merely forcing the cable operators to carry [...]