Income inequality is associated with poor health. Inequities exist in service utilization and financing for health care. Health care costs push high number of households into poverty in India. We undertook this study to ascertain inequities in health status, service utilization and out-ofpocket (OOP) health expenditures in two States in north India namely, Haryana and Punjab, and Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Dengue virus belongs to family Flaviviridae, having four serotypes that spread by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. It causes a wide spectrum of illness from mild asymptomatic illness to severe fatal dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS). Approximately 2.5 billion people live in dengue-risk regions with about 100 million new cases each year worldwide. The cumulative dengue diseases burden has attained an unprecedented proportion in recent times with sharp increase in the size of human population at risk.

Equity in health is an important and long-standing goal for society. The poor, by virtue of lower incomes, unsanitary living conditions, poor access to health care not only tend to have higher levels of morbidity and mortality but despite needing it more, have lower levels of health care use compared to those who are better off. They also spend higher proportions of incomes on the little health care that they access. Uncertainty related to health and catastrophic nature of health expenditures often render even non-poor households into cycles of poverty.

The World Heart Federation (WHF) has introduced the notion of ‘one world, one home, one heart’ to spur the promotion of cardiovascular health and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) worldwide on the occasion of the World Heart Day 2012 (September 29). Estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that about 17.3 million people die from CVD every year, with CVD representing 30 per cent of all global deaths. (Editorial)

The present study was carried out on stored rice variety PAU 201 in Punjab that was not permitted for milling and public distribution due to the presence of damaged grains at levels exceeding the regulatory limits of 4.75 per cent. The aim of the study was to determine fungal and aflatoxin contamination in the rice samples to assess hazard from the presence of damaged grains.
Presence of iron in discoloured rice grains was also assessed.

Diarrhoeal disease is the fifth leading cause of all mortality globally. To this burden, rotavirus contributes over half a million deaths annually. This pilot study was conducted to determine the economic burden of diarrhoeal episodes on families from different geographical regions accessing medical facilities in India.

Transmission of dengue virus depends on the presence of Aedes mosquito. Mosquito generation and development is known to be influenced by the climate. This study was carried out to examine whether the climatic factors data can be used to predict yearly dengue cases of Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

The Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) Elimination Initiative in the Indian subcontinent was launched in 2005 as a joint effort between the governments in the Region (India, Nepal and Bangladesh) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The objective is to reduce the annual VL incidence below 1/10,000 inhabitants by 2015 based on detection and treatment of VL cases and vector control. We present here a review of studies published in the period 2005-2010 on the efficacy of different tools to control

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) undertook screening of asymptomatic persons from high risk group with the ELISA test for HIV infection in 1986 and found that HIV infection has reached India. ICMR in collaboration with the central and State health services initiated the national sero-surveillance programme for HIV infection in 43 surveillance and five reference centres to determine the major modes of transmission and magnitude of infection.

Dengue is a vector borne disease transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus. The incidence of the disease is increasing worldwide and currently 40 per cent of the global population is at risk of the infection. The number of cases in the WHO Southeast
Asia region surged nearly 70 per cent from 152,448 in 2004 to 257,882 in 2009. There is no specific treatment of the disease and the only way to control the disease is through vector control, which includes removal or covering water harbouring containers, the