Many severe health risks in developing countries could be substantially reduced with access to appropriate preventive measures. However, the associated costs are often high enough to restrict access among poor households, and free provision through public health campaigns is often not...

Poor quality essential medicines, both substandard and counterfeit, are serious but neglected public health problems. Anti-infective medicines are particularly afflicted. Unfortunately, attempts to improve medicine quality have been hampered by confusion and controversy over definitions. For...

Review of: The Culture of Flushing: A Social And Legal History of Sewage Jamie Benidickson. UBC Press,Vancouver, 2007. xxiv + 404 pp. $93.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7748-1291-7; $32.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7748-1292-4.

Allocations to the budget for health appear to be impressive but a closer look shows that this is not so, especially taking into consideration the high inflation rate in the previous year. A substantive criticism is presented on allocation to HIV/AIDS, polio eradication, and leprosy control...

This paper examines the public health intervention of the Rockefeller Foundation, one of the major ‘philanthropic’ organisations in the world during the twentieth century, in the erstwhile princely state of Thiruvithamkoor, which currently constitutes a part of Kerala state in...

Do papers on smokeless tobacco serve a legitimate public health interest? The editors are seeking opinions from the readers [Plos Medicine editorial].

Environmental problems, partly a consequence of the rapid growth strategy adopted by the state are looming large. With public health services deteriorating rapidly, there is cause for concern and some rethinking on the current growth model.

Rural people are deprived even of the basic facilities of medical care. Is this ethical? [6th K R Memorial lecture].

Shallow groundwater with high arsenic concentrations from naturally occurring sources is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people in Bangladesh. It has resulted in a major public health crisis with as many as 70 million people possibly at risk. The International Atomic Energy...

Creating and developing fair and evidence-based national and global systems to more rationally set priorities for public spending on health. An interim secretariat should be there to incubate a global health technology assessment facility designed to help governments develop national systems and...