A physician practising in a remote and resource constrained setting is frequently faced with clinical situations which fall in the grey zone at the fringe of her/his competence and comfort level. In such situations, most doctors choose to refer patients to next level of care citing the poor infrastructure, and absence of the needed […]
Category: South Asia
Coming together to fill the gaps in an inequitable crisis: A story from the second wave of COVID-19 in India
When will things get back to normal? A question we have asked since COVID-19 hit us in 2020. Who imagined it would last for more than a year, and return in waves as deadly as the second wave in India, which was nothing less than a nightmare. Practically every family was suffering, grieving, pleading; […]
Towards a more inclusive model of health technology assessment
The buzz-word of evidence informed decision making is all pervasive in the health policy and systems space. However, it is easier said than done. To facilitate evidence informed decision making, the Government of India established a formal institutional structure known as Health Technology Assessment in India (HTAIn) under Department of Health Research (DHR) in […]
A National Digital Health Blueprint for India: The Road Ahead
The WHO resolution on Digital Health1 that was adopted by the member states during the 71st World Health Assembly in May 2018 had India as a lead sponsor. The Indian delegation led by Honorable Health Minister participated in a ministerial side meeting on leveraging digital health for Universal Health Coverage . India shared its grand […]
Violence against doctors in India: faltering justice systems, crippled health systems and broken dreams
Early this week India woke up to the news of a mob of “so called” family members of a patient, who had come in trucks and pelted stones in a Kolkata medical college alleging delay in handing over dead body . In the ensuing violence against doctors, a junior doctor suffered severe head injuries […]
Why drowning is ignored – and what can be done about it
Drowning is the third leading cause of death by unintentional injury, killing an estimated 360,000 a year globally, the majority of whom are children. In particular, drowning presents a significant risk in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) where 90% of drowning deaths occur. The majority of LMICs have no national waters safety plan, or even mention […]
Poised to strike: global plan to tackle snakebite demands urgent action
Imagine it is twilight and you are walking back to your village after a long day working in the fields. Suddenly you feel acute pain in your calf. Out of the corner of your eye you see a flash of movement: a snake. Was it a cobra? A viper? Or a less harmful species? You […]
Why Informed Patients are Key to Addressing India’s TB Crisis ?
From close to a decade of experience in working on Tuberculosis (TB) in India, I have noticed a constant refrain from the stories and narratives of the TB affected: ‘we didn’t know anything about TB.’ An equally common connected complaint is: ‘we were never provided the relevant information needed to fight TB.’ Why do patients […]
Can the National Nutrition Mission address the nutrition maladies in India?
The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi unveiled a vision to fight malnutrition in India on 8th March 2018 with the launch of a new program called POSHAN ABHIYAAN or National Nutrition Mission (NNM). The program comes with a budget of ₹ 9000 crore (₹ 90,000 million or 1384 million US$) for three years […]
How to ask for more trouble in an ailing health system
By Meena Putturaj Photo by Geralt under CC 0 India is one of the world’s largest economies and its health system is ranked 154th globally by the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Time and again, India has expressed its commitment to achieving universal health coverage (UHC), but are the policy choices being made in […]