In The Press
MEDIANAMA
Error 404: Privacy Not Found
in Ayushman Bharat
Digital Mission’s PMJAY Dashboard
24 September 2024
Shivangi Rai and Shefali Malhotra highlight the privacy concerns in India's increasingly digitized healthcare ecosystem and the serious gaps within the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, in an interview by Kamya Pandey of MediaNama
SCROLL
What members of the queer community suggested at a
closed-door government consultation
11 September 2024
Representatives of the queer community attended a consultation organized by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in July 2024 but there is no public record of the meeting. Participants had mixed opinions on the queer-friendly measures announced by the Centre and called for more consultations with diverse representation from the community.
THE WIRE
If You Ask Wrong Questions...
you will get the wrong answers.
That is what is happening in Kolkata's
RG Kar Hospital case
30 August 2024
Anima Anjuri, Harshda Bargal, Vivek Divan and Reonia Mathew assert that by demanding a new law for healthcare worker protection, we overlook poor implementation of existing legal frameworks and fail to seek institutional accountability
INDIAN EXPRESS
Queer rights beyond marriage equality: What the new Parliament needs to do
24 June 2024
In June, as the world observes Pride Month, Vivek Divan asserts that queer challenges to the status quo should be rooted in reimagining the role that law can play in advancing society while empowering people.
THE LEAFLET
Five years of the HIV/AIDS Act, 2017: An assessment— Part 1
15 January 2024
Adam Caar
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017 has been in force for more than five years. Suraj Sanap does a critical examination of its implementation.
Developer
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Anmol Mathur and Shefali Malhotra share their experience with RTI and how the government stonewalled Right to Information queries seeking information on contracts between public authorities and private technology companies on digital health initiatives.
‘No data’ and other tactics: How the government is dodging RTI queries on health pacts with Big Tech
9 December 2023
THE BODY
The global push to decriminalize queer sex is seeing both victories and setbacks, according to a new report from the HIV Policy Lab. Vivek Divan participated in its launch and spoke of the LGBTQ decriminalisation litigation work done in India, and its relationship with the HIV response and civil society efforts.
New Report Reveals that Decriminalizing Queer Sex Improves HIV Outcomes
1 December 2023
THE HINDU
Shivangi Rai explains in a podcast for The Hindu, how and why cyber attacks on healthcare organisations have become increasingly frequent in the country, and how much security is provided to sensitive data under the recently-passed Data Protection Act.
How safe is our personal health data with the Indian government?
|In Focus podcast
14 November 2023
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India is piloting ambitious digital health initiatives while neglecting data safeguards
31 October 2023
India’s new data protection law, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023,
neither meets the standards set out in the global strategy document, nor the privacy judgement of the Indian Supreme Court
write Shivangi Rai and Shefali Malhotra.
THE HINDU
World Mental Health Day | One year of Tele-MANAS:
The wins, the concerns
10 October 2023
India launched the Tele-MANAS helpline on World Mental Health Day, October 10, last year. The helpline has received over three lakh calls and spread its coverage across 32 States and Union Territories. However, an RTI by
C-HELP revealed that Tele-MANAS does not have a data privacy policy
DECCAN HERALD
Tele MANAS clocks 2 lakh consultations, yet lacks data privacy policy
30 August 2023
An RTI filed by C-HELP in July 2023 revealed that Tele MANAS, centre's helpline for mental health support operated by NIMHANS has
been operational for over 10 months without
a privacy policy.
writes Navya P K.
SCROLL
Infection risks, long hours, mental stress: Why is there no law for the safety of health workers?
3 June 2023
The pandemic shed light on the challenges that healthcare workers routinely face and the state of their occupational safety. Policies are moving in the right direction but have a limited impact while being unable to provide legal recourse writes Anmol Mathur.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS
With the Surrogacy Act, the judiciary has the chance to expand scope of reproductive rights
27 October 2022
Gargi Mishra and Brototi Dutta examine the lacunae in the laws on surrogacy and assisted reproductive technologies, and the opportunities before the Courts to address these gaps and extend reproductive rights and justice.
THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS
Shefali Malhotra, Shivangi Rai and Rohin Garg examine gaps in the governance framework underpinning the National Digital Health Mission. The article is based on the C-HELP-IFF working paper on the same subject.