Around 600 participants from 23 states gathered in Delhi on 11–12 December for the National Convention on Health Rights, organised by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA). The convention commemorated 25 years of JSA’s sustained engagement with health policy, public health systems, and the defence of people’s health rights. JSA is a national platform comprising 22 networks and several hundred organisations and groups working across India.

THERE is no doubt that the Medical Council Act of 1956 was in need of urgent replacement. There were many reasons why such replacement was necessary. One trigger for recent attempts to change the Act was the high level of corruption. Even after Supreme Court strictures against leading individuals in the Medical Council, the influence of these individuals continued to grow.

LOVE and care for everyone irrespective of caste, religion, gender and politics is the motto of the palliative care movement in Kannur, Kerala, formed under the banner, ‘Initiative for Rehabilitation and Palliative Care’ (IRPC).The IRPC takes up many ventures, the most important being the in-home caregiving.

TO safeguard the interests of the common people, the government of Kerala has designed innovative policies to be followed in the public health sector. The standard of health services in Kerala has reached an impressive level compared to the rest of the states in India, which is also on par with that of the developed world. The state had pioneered universal health care services in the country and its palliative care service has largely been applauded. Kerala is also the only state to have a formal palliative care policy in the country.

TWENTY five years ago, a child born in India had significantly better chances of survival than in neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh. Twenty five years later, after neo-liberal reforms were implemented in India since 1991, both Nepal and Bangladesh have lower child mortality rates than India, ie, a child born in these countries are more likely to survive than in India. The above encapsulates the story of neo-liberal reforms in India and its impact on people's health.