Private healthcare providers threatened by the Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme
There have been some recent newspaper reports that networks of private hospital owners have threatened to stop providing services to patients if the government of Karnataka expands the Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme (VAS) from the poor to the rest of the population. We...
Eventually, it was loss to the community
This is a story about a Primary Health Center (PHC) and a lady doctor. An ordinary centre in the way so many of our health centers in remote parts of the country are. This unremarkable PHC is located 52 km away from the district head quarters (HQ) and 36 km away from...
Can we count on our counting systems?
A shorter version of this article appeared on BMJ Blogs on October 31, 2013 under the same title. Co-written with Himabindu G L of IPH, Bangalore. Much of the material remains unprocessed, or, if processed, unanalysed, or, if analysed, not read, or, if read, not used...
Juliet: We met, we supported and we lost…….& witnessed family getting dismantled?
This is not the first time we are writing about Juliet….but this will be the last blog we can write for her. A Call from the team member took me back to memory lane… When we first time met young Juliet (name changed) she was pregnant with severe anaemia and reluctant...
Is embracing death @ 24 so easy?
This time it was neither KG Halli nor urban health project….but Health Inc…trying to find reasons for social exclusion in Bangalore Rural district. When we entered 8x8 single room house, Jagadish was lying on the bed. We asked how he was feeling, he pushed bed sheet...
Good presentation is very important
“Good presentation is very important and I apply this concept”. This is said by one laboratory technician working in a Primary Health Center (PHC). He believes that if he provides his laboratory services in a presentable way, he can earn the trust of the people....
Is health camp an effective stratergy
Health 'camps' are one of the strategies adopted by both government and non-government organizations. This literally means that a team of health professionals 'camp' in an area to carry out a limited health intervention. For instance, government organizes...
What the numbers do not account for…..night beat in KG Halli
Life has its unique ways of showing you what you might be looking for. As a purely logistic decision, it made more sense for me to stay overnight in the community centre and this gave opportunity to observe a different side to KGHalli....after dusk. Suddenly “urban”...
Where Do I Begin (part-2)
Where Do I Begin.............. to tell the stories of urban polity ... the enduring tales of life as it is least meant to be ..... in a just fair world......? (To be sung to theme tune of Love Story) Did you read the where do I begin part-1 ?(click here) In the...
Where Do I Begin…..
Where Do I Begin... to tell the stories of urban poverty... the grimmest tales that tell of what the 'We' do to the 'we'... Where do I start...? (To be sung to theme tune of Love Story) Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or to cry......... This in an era of...
Does AADHAAR and PAN card mean RSBY card??
It was another day in the field collecting data for Health Inc project. The team reached village near Nelamangala. After meeting staff in Gram Panchayat (GP) we were asked to talk to Anganawadi teacher and take her help to identify the houses for collecting data. But...
ನನ್ನ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗೆ ಏನೂ ಉತ್ತರ……….?
ಆರೋಗ್ಯ-ಉಪಕೇಂದ್ರದ ಕಿರಿಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ಅರೋಗ್ಯ ಸಹಾಯಕಿಯರು ತಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಎದಿರುಸುತ್ತಿರುವಾ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳು ಮೇಲೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಭೇಟಿಯ ಅನುಬವಗಳು ಪ್ರಾಥಮಿಕ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ಸಮುದಾಯಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಬಾಹ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಜನರ ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಧಿಸಿದ ಮೊದಲ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಸಂಪರ್ಕ ಕೇಂದ್ರವೆಂದರೆ ಅದು ಆರೋಗ್ಯ-ಉಪಕೇಂದ್ರ. ಪ್ರತಿ...
At last labor ward in action
The Urban health project ofInstitute of public health has begun working in KG Halli since 2009. When we came to the area, our first action was mapping all the health facilities in ward no 30. As we did the mapping we found two government facilities in the area. One...
CP or CP? Community participation or Corridors of power
A recent visit to the offices of the local government health offices and the tertiary level hospitals confirmed what I had suspected for ages, after working in the field of public health for over two decades. There are two key reasons why our public health system is...
“Global pressure and Local Commitment” India is not a polio endemic country any more
No child got affected by wild polio virus last year in India; the last reported case of polio was a two year old girl child from West Bengal on 13 January 2011. India is now said to be out of the list of polio endemic countries in the world. In the year 1988, the...
How quality health care services is possible for all?
Just want to share some of my feelings/observations during my two weeks visits to these hospitals for my parent’s treatment: Sl.No Karnataka Institute of Diabetology St.John's Medical College Hospital 1 Well management of crowded patient Very crowded but well...
Grievance redressal meeting with community and councilor at Bharathmatha Slum.
The Bharathmatha slum community is facing a Basic Problems like drinking water, drainage, sanitation, Ration card, Improper Roads, garbage. The IPH team working in the urban health project decided to conduct grievance redressal meeting, to discuss these issues and...
How difficult was it to see working anganawadi!
IPH has been working in KG Halli in order to improve quality of healthcare for people living in this ward since last 3 years.In order to achieve this, IPH aims to work with healthcare providers (government and private), authorities (councilor, health department,...
May be it was dead before seeing the world.
It is more than, two months since, I had an opportunity to stay overnight in a tertiary government hospital in Bangalore. This is the storey of what I observed that night at a labor ward. It was a night of the August 23, 2011. If the nurses and doctors had listened...
Why are government doctors afraid of pregnant women?
Context – Monthly taluk meeting of all government medical officers (MOs) in the taluk. The MOs were asked for their suggestions to strengthen the health services in their taluk. Among various issues raised, one issue was about the lack of obstetric services at the...
ತಟಸ್ತ ಹೃದಯಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಸ್ಪಂದಿಸುವ ಹೃದಯ
ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ 1986 ರಲ್ಲಿ HIV -ಸೋಂಕನ್ನು ಪತ್ತೆ ಹಚ್ಚಲಾಯಿತು, 25 ವರ್ಷ ಕಳೆದರು ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ HIV -ಸೋಂಕಿತರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇರುವ ಕಳಂಕ ಮತ್ತು ತಾರತಮ್ಯ ಅಷ್ಟೇನೂ ಕಡಿಮೆಯಾಗಿಲ್ಲ, ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಕಸ್ಟು ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗಳಿವೆ, HIV-ಯಿಂದ ಗಂಡ ಮರಣಹೊಂದಿದ ವಿದವೆಯನ್ನೂ ಮನೆಯಿಂದ ಹೊರಹಾಕುವುದು ಗ್ರಾಮವನ್ನು ಬಿಡುವಂತೆ ಒತ್ತಾಯ ಮಾಡುವದು,...
BPM & DPM training (Tumkur)
On 12th April 2005, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in India with a goal towards reforming and strengthening the basic health care delivery system of the country. Out of the many innovations under the program, a new cadre of district and block...
Tuberculosis and DOTS
For decades, the country has been striving towards decreasing the burden of Tuberculosis (TB) on its population. The introduction of Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS) through the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) was expected to bring...
Several Ganeshas – One platform?
The last month had been Ramadan, and many practitioners of the Islamic faith could not make it to the meeting. Now it was the turn of Ganesha, that ‘remover of all obstacles’ and what we had not forseen, was that today the idols would be taken in a procession to the...
The end to a challenge and a new beginning for urban health Team!!
Call it the light at the end of the tunnel, or the pure relief that comes when the hoped-for, unexpected unfolds; but the urban health team experienced the adrenaline rush that goes with all this on August 8th at KG Halli’s community centre as we gathered for the...
ಬದಲಾವಣೆಗೆ ನಿಲುಕದ ಅ೦ಗನವಾಡಿ ಟೀಚರ್
ವಾರ್ಡ ಸ೦ಖ್ಯೆ ೩೦ರಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ವರುಷಗಳಿ೦ದ ಕೆಲ್ಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಗುರಿ ಸಮುದಾಯದ ಆರೋಗ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟ ತರುವುದಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ವಾರ್ಡನಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತಮಾತ ಸ್ಲ೦ ಇದೆ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಒ೦ದು ಅ೦ಗನವಾಡಿ ಸಹ ಇದೆ. . ನಾವು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವ ಸ೦ದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ಅ೦ಗನವಾಡಿಯು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ ಎ೦ದು...
Whose life is it anyway ?
11 July began like any other Monday in KG Halli, meant to be a quick review of the last week and a plan for the one to come, but unfolded otherwise. We were interrupted by a phone call from Bharatmata slum; and another, and a third, until it became clear that we...
Why Juliet is reluctant to visit Public Hospital?
Is Juliet’s fear of going to a health provider justified? Are health providers sensitive to an unusual patient like Juliet ? Let us explore the Issues further Juliet is 13 years old and married to Narayana who is 15 years old. She lives in a congested small house...
A platform between the community and social services
The Bharathmatha slum community was facing a huge garbage problem. There was incomplete garbage collection in the area which had given rise to multiple health problems to the community. The IPH team working in the urban health project decided to meet health inspector...
In search of Indian medical education
The most exciting day of my undergraduate life at medical college was the day when I put the stethoscope on a patient’s chest and asked ‘can you take a deep breath’. Through the years at college, life completely revolved around patients and their diseases. In fact,...