1. Mpox symptoms 

Why in the News?

A young male patient, who recently returned to India from a country with active Mpox transmission, has been identified as a suspected Mpox case by the Union Health Ministry.

2. Policy paralysis, a weakened public health sector

Context

The recent Union Budget has been criticized for its inadequate focus on the social sector, resulting in a paralysis of public health policies that fail to address the diverse needs of the population.

Public Health Needs in India: Poverty, Environmental Pollution, and Curative Care

Poverty-Related Diseases

• Poverty-related diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, undernutrition, maternal death, and food-borne infections pose significant challenges to livelihoods.
• These diseases are non-negotiable from a rights perspective and are non-negotiable from a rights perspective.

Environmental Pollution

• The middle class and those better off face issues related to environmental pollution, including air, water, waste management, lack of drainage facility, and failure to ensure healthy foods and eateries.
• These problems stem from inadequate market rules and inadequate infrastructural development.

Curricular Care Needs

• The population’s needs for curative care are the most widely recognised needs in public health.
• Curative treatment at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is planned.
• Primary-level care is provided by public health organisations to the impoverished and vulnerable.
• Historically disregarded, secondary-level care continues to fall short of demographic averages.

Public Health Insurance Schemes (PFHI)

• Since 2018, the entire focus has been on publicly funded health insurance schemes (PFHI), such Ayushman Bharat’s PMJAY.
• In the context of India, the private health care industry is the true benefactor of PFHI policies.
• The government has made it clear that it will not be bolstering secondary and tertiary public sector health care.

Transformation of Sub Centres, PHCs, and CHCs into Health and Wellness Centres (HWC)

• The transformation of sub centers, PHCs, and CHCs into health and wellness centers (HWC) in February 2018 has transformed the original mandate of sub centers from outreach activity to providing curative care.
• The 2023 directive to rename all HWCs to ‘Ayushman Arogya mandir’ raises questions about its significance to a non-Hindi speaking population.

Threat to Public Health System

• Public health challenges are diverse in a country like India, and the loss of trust towards health-care providers and the public sector due to overcrowding of health care with inadequate infrastructure is a major curative care challenge.
• There are concerns regarding the relevance of the 2023 directive to rename all HWCs to “Ayushman Arogya mandir” among non-Hindi speaking people.

3. Bangladesh-India relations

Context

Chief Advisor to Bangladesh’s interim administration Muhammad Yunus said the nation wants to keep positive relations with India as long as they are founded on justice and equity. This statement was made during a meeting with students who participated in the student-people revolution that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Chief Advisor for India-Bangladesh Relations in Bangladesh

• Focusses a strong emphasis on upholding equitable and fair relationships.
• Focusses emphasis on the value of equity and respect for one another in preserving relationships.
• Calls for improved regional cooperation through the resuscitation of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• Demands that New Delhi give up the myth that stability is guaranteed by Ms. Hasina’s leadership. Md. Touhid Hossain, the adviser on foreign affairs for Bangladesh, expresses surprise at comments made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.