Health Bulletin 4/January/2022

Here are the top health stories for the day:

Who will conduct NEXT exam? This body..as per Health Ministry

Putting an end to the confusion regarding the authority in charge of conducting the National Exit Test (NEXT), the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has proposed constituting a new autonomous Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (BEMS) under the National Medical Commission which will handle this responsibility.

Proposing amendments to the existing National Medical Commission (NMC) Act 2019, the Health Ministry has decided to incorporate the Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (BEMS) as the Fifth Autonomous Board under the National Medical Commission (NMC), which is the apex medical education regulatory body.

For more details, check out the link given below:

Who Will Conduct NEXT Exam? This Body..As Per Health Ministry

No tax deduction on freebies to doctors: Pharma company disallowed booking Rs 21 lakh as expense by ITAT

Holding that freebies to medical practitioners are prohibited by law, the Chennai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has disallowed expenditure of over Rs 21 lakh incurred by Chennai-based private drug manufacturing company for freebies as deduction in terms of section 37(1) of the Income Tax Act,1961.

According to section 37(1) of the Income Tax Act,1961 (the Act), any expenditure (not being expenditure of the nature described in sections 30 to 36 and not being in the nature of capital expenditure or personal expenses of the assessee), laid out or expended wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business or profession shall be allowed in computing the income chargeable under the head "Profits and gains of business or profession".

For more details, check out the link given below:

No Tax Deduction On Freebies To Doctors: Pharma Company Disallowed Booking Rs 21 Lakh As Expense By ITAT

No second COVID-19 booster dose required: Govt sources

There is no need for second COVID booster dose, government sources told ANI. As per Health Ministry data, 220.11 cr Total Vaccine doses (95.13 cr Second Dose and 22.41 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. India's Active caseload currently stands at 2,570. 

Check out the Medical Dialogues official site for more health news:

https://medicaldialogues.in/

XBB.1.5 Tally at 5 in India with mild symptoms observed

According to data from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), five cases of XBB.1.5 variant of COVID 19 have been recorded in India. Three samples from Gujarat and one each from Karnataka and Rajasthan tested positive for the new XBB.1.5 variant. The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants.

Check out the Medical Dialogues official site for more health news:

https://medicaldialogues.in/