Latest news with #HealthCommission
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
UDF Health Commission website launched
The website of the Health Commission appointed by the United Democratic Front was formally opened by Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan recently. The website address is This website is envisioned as a platform for comprehensive study and analysis of the healthcare sector in Kerala. Visitors to the website will have the option of reporting any issues they have noticed in the health sector and of suggesting possible solutions. The email address to contact the commission is contact@ and the phone/WhatsApp number is +91 7306635291. The aim of the commission will be to conduct an in-depth study of the general issues in Kerala's health-care sector, especially the government health system, and the difficulties faced by the public as a result. The commission will hold detailed discussions with people from all walks of life including the general public, healthcare workers and professionals from related fields. The Commission will also hold sittings in different districts. The commission will prepare the report, 'Health Mission 2050', with the firm conviction that the people of Kerala have the right to access the highest quality healthcare services. The report will include recommendations to preserve Kerala's existing healthcare achievements and to prepare the State to effectively face emerging challenges, an official release said here.
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
China ‘to triple number of Uyghur organ-harvesting centres'
China is to triple the number of facilities it uses to forcibly harvest the organs of detained Uyghur people, it has been claimed. Experts have raised the alarm after it emerged that the Xinjiang Health Commission, a branch of China's national health authority, plans to build six new medical centres by 2030, bringing the total in the region to nine – more than any other province in the country. The expansion has heightened concerns over China's treatment of Uyghur people, against whom the government already stands accused of genocide. Beijing has also been accused of forcibly harvesting the organs of prisoners from minority groups and, in some cases, selling them to wealthy recipients willing to pay the equivalent of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pounds. An international tribunal, conducted in the UK in 2019, found that as many as 100,000 organ transplants had been carried out in China annually – nearly three times the number that its government reported to the international register. Sayragul Sauytbay, a Kazakh doctor who was previously detained in Xinjiang, has spoken publicly about camp-wide 'health checks' where detainees had their blood tested and, depending on their results, were then sorted into groups. She began to notice that those who were given a pink check mark would soon disappear, concluding it was because of 'organ harvesting'. While the decision to build the new facilities was made in December last year, the plans have only recently been made public by End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), an Australia-based campaign group. Targeting Uyghurs The 2019 tribunal determined that the organs of marginalised detainees in China were being forcefully harvested, sometimes when the patients were still alive, to serve a transplant trade worth over $1 billion (£733 million). While China has a voluntary organ donation scheme, Wendy Rogers, the chairman of ETAC's advisory board, told The Telegraph that in many cases they were harvested forcefully, including from otherwise healthy prisoners against their will and who are slowly killed as their organs are removed. Earlier this year, it was estimated that at least half a million Uyghurs were in prisons or detention centres. They have also faced decades of persecution by the Chinese government, including mass detention and forced sterilisation. Given the history of abuse against the Uyghurs, of whom there are 10 million in Xinjiang, there is concern that the new transplant facilities will result in more forced organ harvesting among the population. Xinjiang has a much smaller population and lower organ donation rate than other provinces in China, which makes the decision to expand facilities in the region suspicious. The new centres would provide Xinjiang with nine organ transplant facilities for a population of only 26 million people. By contrast, Guizhou province has only three facilities for its much larger population of 39 million people. Xinjiang's official donation rate is also much lower than that of other parts of the country. It has only 0.69 donors per million people, compared to the national average of 4.6. 'The concept of informed, voluntary consent is meaningless in Xinjiang's carceral environment,' said David Matas, an international human rights lawyer who has previously investigated organ harvesting in China. 'Given the systemic repression, any claim that donations are voluntary should be treated with the utmost scepticism.' Even before the new facilities were announced, Xinjiang was known as a hub for organ transplants. In the province's capital Urumqi, its airport has green arrows on the ground – known as 'Green Passage' lanes – to fast-track the transit of those transporting organs. The new facilities, four of which will be built in Urumqi, will add to the types of transplants that can be carried out by increasing the province's capacity to harvest hearts, kidneys, livers, small intestines and lungs. Dr Rogers told The Telegraph that the new facilities would likely allow for the 'donation' and implantation of organs to happen at the same place. 'It would be more cost-effective to bring the recipients to Xinjiang for their operations rather than send the organs out because it shortens the time in between taking the organ out of the person who's killed and putting it into the recipient,' said Dr Rogers. 'If you have to fly a heart for six hours across China, it's not going to be in such a good condition as a six-minute walk down the corridor.' Wealthy recipients The recipients are usually wealthy individuals who pay huge sums of money for organs that they would normally have to wait much longer for elsewhere. According to the 2019 tribunal, individuals will pay tens of thousands of pounds to get on a waiting list, then the organ itself can cost another tens of thousands, plus separate fees charged by the doctor and anaesthetist. One kidney transplant patient who spoke at the tribunal explained that he paid RMB350,000 (£35,600) for the organ, then RMB86,000 (£8,760) for the surgery, as well as RMB50,000 (£5,100) as a 'bonus' to the doctor, which came to a total of RMB486,000 (£49,500). Kidneys are not even among the most expensive organs. 'The most valuable are the heart and the liver because you can't live without a heart or with liver failure,' said Dr Rogers. 'So these are the most expensive organs.' Some of the transplants can cost as much as $100,000 (£72,000), she added. Additional bribes are also given to blood banks and doctors to ensure recipients are given 'high-quality' organs, sources told the tribunal. While some of the recipients are wealthy Chinese nationals, there is also an international market. Dr Rogers said that there seemed to be a demand in the Middle East, and, every so often, there are advertisements in Arab-language media about travelling to China for an organ transplant. Long-running industry Earlier victims of China's organ harvesting were practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that is banned in China, though the tribunal said that Uyghurs had also been targeted. Falun Gong followers were believed to be ideal donors because they do not smoke or drink and live relatively healthy lives. Dr Rogers noted that, as practising Muslims, most Uyghurs also do not drink. The tribunal found that, 'beyond a reasonable doubt', China had killed prisoners of conscience to extract their organs, which amounted to crimes against humanity. Cheng Pei Ming, a Falun Gong practitioner, spoke to The Telegraph last year about how parts of his lung and liver were forcibly removed. He explained that in 2004, he was dragged into a hospital against his will, where he was drugged. He woke up three days later, shackled to a bed, with an incision in his chest. Congressman Chris Smith, who authored the Bill, said that the practice was 'murder masquerading as medicine' and pushed forward the legislation, which would impose sanctions on anyone involved in the trade. In 2015, China also said it would stop sourcing organs from executed prisoners. However, there is no sign that the actual law has been changed. 'Without meaningful oversight and accountability, this expansion risks becoming a front for continued crimes against humanity and genocide,' said Ramila Chanisheff, the president of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association.
The Independent
24-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
RFK Jr defends MAHA health report which cited sources that don't exist
Watch as Robert F Kennedy Jr. defends a flagship report for his agenda that includes numerous citations from fake sources. During a House hearing on Tuesday (24 June), Rep. Raul Ruiz quizzed the Secretary of Health on the 'MAHA Report' published by his Make America Healthy Again Commission which included at least seven invalid citations. It referenced more than 500 studies as evidence supporting Kennedy's unorthodox agenda. RFK Jr confirmed that he did not fact check his department's report, to which Ruiz replied: 'Why, then, did the report include a citation to sources that don't even exist? How does that happen under your leadership, sir?'
New Straits Times
08-06-2025
- Health
- New Straits Times
China's Sichuan to offer 25-day marriage leave, 150-day maternity leave
HONG KONG: Health authorities in China's southwestern Sichuan province are proposing to extend marriage leave up to 25 days and maternity leave up to 150 days, to help create a "fertility-friendly society" which boosts the country's population. The move comes as China's government struggles to boost birth rates in the world's second-largest economy. China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024 and experts have cautioned the downturn will continue to worsen. Sichuan's Health Commission, which published the draft on its website, is seeking public opinion and comments from May 30 to June 30. Sichuan province has a population of 84 million, more than most countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. The proposal would extend marriage leave by 400 per cent from the five days currently given and more than double the existing 60-day maternity leave period. Featured Videos Sichuan also plans to extend paternity leave to 30 days from 20 days to "facilitate the care of men for their wives after childbirth and help advocate that couples share the responsibility of raising children," authorities said. The province has emerged as one of the more progressive in China. It has allowed unmarried women to access IVF treatment and in 2023 authorities there announced that unmarried individuals would be eligible for benefits reserved for married couples. China's birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015 as well as rapid urbanisation. The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family. Authorities rolled out a series of "fertility friendly" measures in 2024 to minimise the challenge of having roughly 300 million Chinese expected to enter retirement in the coming decade - the equivalent of almost the entire US population. Measures include urging China's colleges and universities to provide "love education" to emphasize positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family. In November, China's State Council, or cabinet, rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China's population crisis and spread respect for childbearing and marriages "at the right age." More than 2.6 million couples filed for divorce last year, the data showed, up 1.1 per cent from 2.59 million in 2023.
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
China's Sichuan province to offer extended marriage and maternity leave
Hong Kong: Health authorities in China's southwestern Sichuan province are proposing to extend marriage leave up to 25 days and maternity leave up to 150 days, to help create a "fertility-friendly society" which boosts the country's population. The move comes as China's government struggles to boost birth rates in the world's second-largest economy. China's population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024 and experts have cautioned the downturn will continue to worsen. Sichuan's Health Commission, which published the draft on its website, is seeking public opinion and comments from May 30 to June 30. Sichuan province has a population of 84 million, more than most countries including Germany and the United Kingdom. The proposal would extend marriage leave by 400% from the five days currently given and more than double the existing 60-day maternity leave period. Sichuan also plans to extend paternity leave to 30 days from 20 days to "facilitate the care of men for their wives after childbirth and help advocate that couples share the responsibility of raising children," authorities said. The province has emerged as one of the more progressive in China. It has allowed unmarried women to access IVF treatment and in 2023 authorities there announced that unmarried individuals would be eligible for benefits reserved for married couples. China's birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015 as well as rapid urbanisation. The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family. Authorities rolled out a series of "fertility friendly" measures in 2024 to minimise the challenge of having roughly 300 million Chinese expected to enter retirement in the coming decade - the equivalent of almost the entire U.S. population. Measures include urging China's colleges and universities to provide "love education" to emphasize positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family. In November, China's State Council, or cabinet, rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China's population crisis and spread respect for childbearing and marriages "at the right age." More than 2.6 million couples filed for divorce last year, the data showed, up 1.1% from 2.59 million in 2023.
