Call for food-first public health strategy: Government urged to reconsider subsidies for obesity drugs

By A Representative

Dr. Arun Gupta, Central Coordinator of the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) and Convener of Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), has written to Shri Amit Agrawal, Secretary at the Department of Pharmaceuticals, urging the Government of India to reconsider proposed subsidies for anti-obesity drugs under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

In his letter, Dr. Gupta expressed concern that such incentives could shift focus from preventive approaches to a pharmaceutical-dependent model of obesity management. Citing his recent op-ed in The Economic Times titled “Burning Fat or Feeding Pharma?”, he emphasized that the root causes of obesity—such as ultra-processed foods, marketing practices, and poor access to nutritious food—require systemic, food-based solutions.

“Subsidizing obesity drugs risks legitimizing drug use for a dietary crisis and could lead to corporate capture of public health agendas,” Dr. Gupta warned. He instead recommended greater investments in affordable whole foods, breastfeeding promotion, and public nutrition education.

The letter has been copied to key government stakeholders including the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Chief Economic Adviser, and the Directors General of ICMR and NIN.

Right to walk, right to livelihood: Clearing footpaths 'can't mean' clearing out the urban poor

By Aseem Mishra* India’s cities are locked in a quiet but intensifying struggle over one of their most contested public spaces: the footpath. For pedestrians, a footpath is basic infrastructure—a strip of ground that should allow people to move safely, independently and with dignity. For millions of informal workers, the same stretch of pavement is a workplace, a source of daily income and often the difference between survival and destitution.

A fearless spirit lost: Rebecca Thomson dies at 17-hour Catalina Swim Mark

By Harsh Thakor On July 26, 2026, Rebecca “Becky” Thomson suffered cardiac arrest while attempting the Catalina Channel Swim — a marathon open water crossing from Catalina Island to the California mainland. After swimming for 17 hours, Thomson collapsed in the water. Despite the painstaking efforts of emergency responders and the medical staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, she succumbed to a devastating hypoxic brain injury and died Friday evening.

As luxury home prices surge, India’s affordable housing market faces a squeeze

Counterview News India’s housing market is increasingly showing two very different faces: affluent buyers are driving demand for premium homes, even as the supply of genuinely affordable housing continues to shrink.

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