Dr. Prashanth N S as vice-chair of the General Council, ITM, Antwerp

by jeevan@iphindia.org | Jun 17, 2024 | Blog, Latest Updates

Dr. Prashanth N S, Director & Senior Fellow at IPH Bengaluru has been voted as the Vice-Chair of the General Council (the overall body that provides strategic oversight) of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp (Belgium). Prashanth has been an alumnus of ITM and has also completed a term as a member of the General Council. The vice-chair is an honorary position. Sharing the news after the meeting, Dr Prashanth noted the fond memories of the long institutional collaboration between IPH Bengaluru and ITM, that was recalled by the Director and other members of the General Council. ITM members also noted IPH’s emergence as an active hub of innovative research and learning in the region.

Virtual meeting featuring a few of IPH related slides including Dr. Upendra Bhojani’s recent participation in the alumni meeting in Nepal. The appearance of IPH”s work in this year’s ITM Podcast (Transmission) was also noted.

“Living with Snakes – Pop Up”

by jeevan@iphindia.org | May 15, 2024 | Blog, Health Equity and Evaluation, Latest Updates

There are about 4,000 species of snakes reported globally and just about 20% of them are venomous, although there are about 60,000 deaths caused due to snake bite incidents every year in India, there are no reports of any snake species that chase or eat humans. These and many other facts and myths, dos and don’ts are part of the “Living with Snakes – Pop Up” awareness campaign posters part of One Health.

These posters have been carefully crafted in English and Assamese by designer and illustrator Malavika Sagar and educator Chandini Chhabra from Liana Trust, with contributions from Shradha Rathod and Dr. Nandini Velho from Canopy Collective. Translations were done by Dr. Runu Dutta and Dr. Abhilasha Sharma. Photographs were provided by Aamod Zambre, Nilanjan Mukherjee, Rohan Pandit, Gerry Martin, and Kime Rambia.

One Health is an India Alliance Public Engagement Grant focused on Exploring One Health through films and collaborations in North-East India, through two filmmakers Hansatanu Roy and Daiolang Paslein, in their own words, who are collaborating with Green Hub, the Institute of Public Health, and Dr. Nandini Velho, ORA India Fellow and Project Lead at Canopy Collective.

Harmless Snakes Around Us_A3 (1)-compressed

Venomous Snakes Around Us_A3 (1)-compressed

Women In IPH

by iphindia | Apr 1, 2024 | Blog

"Women in IPH"

This year the theme is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”.
Public health cannot be imagined without the role of women who form the backbone of public health services. Be it in research, education, clinical trials, outreach programs or field visits, women are a crucial part of the efforts to achieve the public health goals.
At the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru, we celebrated our women and took an opportunity to showcase the contributions of the women at our institute. We featured some inspiring journeys and contributions like how our women PhD scholars are not just spearheading large public health projects but are mentoring several other early career researchers and contributing to institutional committees and processes. By creating educational online courses on scientific writing, women are imparting knowledge through e-learning applications. From explaining and discussing with a tribal family for a routine health check-up to drawing blood samples for sickle cell testing, the Adivasi women who are engaged in the outreach approaches have broken the barriers of isolation and have gained the confidence of their tribe to actively participate in the public health initiatives. From curating a leadership course, engaging in the management of the institute, leading large-scale complex health systems research studies, to recording anthropometric measures of a newborn child, women are leading the way. Here is a look at the public health contributions of the women at IPH Bengaluru.

SPOORTHI – Inspiring future leaders (A blended leadership course by the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru)

by iphindia | Mar 6, 2024 | Blog

What is SPOORTHI?
SPOORTHI is a blended leadership course to inspire future leaders in the field of public health. The word spoorthi means inspiration and/ or enthusiasm. And the intent of developing this course was to enthuse and inspire budding leaders to take on leadership roles more confidently. What started as an internal capacity building of the next line of leadership at IPH Bengaluru will now be offered to all as there is a dearth of such curated material for individuals from the non-profit sector in public health.

Topics covered
The online phase introduced the participants to what is leadership, the various styles of leadership, the journey of leadership at IPH Bengaluru, skills and qualities essential for leadership in public health.

Whereas the face to face component delved into collectively exploring individual and institutional leadership journeys, hand-on application of communication and moderation skills.

Duration and format
This blended course had online modules on a learning management system, live catch up sessions with internal and external facilitators followed by a 2-day face to face final immersion.

The total duration of the course is 3 months

About the 1st cohort
Spoorthi began the leadership course online by introducing the concepts to the participants and holding group activities. The 2-day in-person immersion utilised a participatory approach to facilitate a safe space as the participants explored their strengths and styles of leadership, internalised the IPH journey and refined their communication and leadership skills. Fun-filled activities that would include identifying a person with their interests rolled into a paper ball. Who would’ve imagined a snowball fight would be so much fun to help us know each other better and get Spoorthi course going on Day-1. Participants embarked on their individual leadership journey by self assessing their leadership qualities, gauging their strengths and priorities. This was followed by an engaging session on how leadership looks like in our day-to-day practice to make the concepts more tangible and relatable. Not just this, the participants also got a sense of the flipside of leadership and how to be mindful and manage such challenges. The intense day ended with lovely fireside pitches/ stories and songs.

On Day – 2 participants took a deep dive into leadership exploring their alignment of individual visions with that of the institutional goals. Lastly a time capsule activity and a time travel of sorts over the last two decades to revisit our past, analyse our present and envision the future. That was a wrap to the phenomenal experiential learning to inspire our future leaders.

Course developers – Dr. Pragati Hebbar, Assistant Director Research and Dr. Tanya Seshadri, Assistant Director Education

What next? – The second cohort will soon be launched… Watch this space for more details

IPH Bengaluru team attend 6th NCTOH

by iphindia | Feb 21, 2024 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, Latest Updates

Faculty and staff from the Cluster on Chronic Health Conditions & Public Policy at the Institute of Public Health (IPH) Bengaluru attended the 6^th National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) organized by the International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Delhi. The conference witnessed participation from representatives of government agencies, academia, civil-society organizations, and individuals working on tobacco control and public health research.

Dr. Upendra Bhojani, Faculty IPH Bengaluru and DTB/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Fellow presented a couple of paper and a poster in the conference. These presentations dealt with ‘gender and tobacco’ as well as findings from his DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance intermediate fellowship work: the “Deciphering Epidemic of Epic Proportion” (DEEP) project (2018-2023). Recognizing the unique approach and methods used in the DEEP project as well as the long-standing work in tobacco control, the conference organizers conferred a “champions award” to IPH Bengaluru for its significant contributions for tobacco control.

Mr. Anand Kumar, a Research Officer at the IPH Bengaluru presented a paper based on the findings from the DEEP project that dealt with the role of tobacco businesses in public policy over time in Indian states. Dr. Lathadevi Chilgod of IPH Bengaluru presented about lessons from the Anusthana project – a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Early Career Fellowship awarded to Dr Pragati Hebbar (2018-2023) – about co-production of knowledge about tobacco control amongst diverse actors. She also presented a poster based on the findings from the DEEP project on concerns of Indian parliamentarians about tobacco over 1990-2017 period.

Dr. Ketki Shah, a doctoral student with the IPH Bengaluru and the Trans-Disciplinary University of Health Sciences and Technology presented a poster about an integrative review of literature about factors shaping livelihood choices of workers in tobacco sector.

The conference also featured an art exhibit “Tobacco & Society” featuring six pencil-on-paper drawings by Dr. Upendra Bhojani locating tobacco use within historical and socio-cultural contexts. The exhibit engaged several delegates on issues related to tobacco use and control and received appreciation.

IPH Bengaluru staff participated in several conference sessions and networked with delegates across various institutions and states. On the whole, they had a wonderful opportunity to learn, network and contribute to tobacco control through this conference. We acknowledge the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance fellowships awarded to Dr Upendra Bhojani (No. IA/CPHS/22/1/506533) and Dr Pragati Hebbar (No. IA/CPHI/22/1/506537) for supporting travel and participation of IPH Bengaluru staff in this conference.

Launch of IPH as TBPPM Learning Network, India Chapter National Secretariat

by iphindia | Dec 8, 2023 | Blog, Health Services, Latest Updates

“Launch of IPH as TBPPM Learning Network, India Chapter National Secretariat”

Fostering Collaboration for TB Prevention and Care

In a significant stride toward advancing TB prevention and care efforts in India, the Institute of Public Health Bengaluru (IPH Bengaluru) was officially unveiled as the National Secretariat to host the TB Public Private Mix Learning Network (TBPPM-LN), India Chapter.

About TBPPM-LN India:
The TBPPM-LN, an offshoot of the global initiative launched in 2021, has rapidly grown into a dynamic community of practitioners focusing on private sector engagement in TB care. With India carrying the highest burden of TB and large proportion of initial care seek being the private sector, PPM in TB became imperative. The need for cross learning in TB PPM space by all stakeholders in India led to the establishment of a dedicated chapter within the global network. The formation of an Advisory Board set the roadmap for the TBPPM-LN India chapter.
The TBPPM-LN India chapter, a neutral platform is dedicated to documenting PPM action (Launch at Union Conference 2023, Paris was 1. TB PPM Compendium – compilation of TB-PPM initiatives that presents the wealth of PPM lessons from India and 2. Documentary- TBPPM Virtual Field Visits), providing targeted learning opportunities (Profiling of dynamic NGO database for PPSA eligibility), facilitating community interaction, implementing mentor-mentee program, hosting webinars, and digitizing the knowledge platform (repository of TB PPM resources). These activities aim to accelerate TB-related initiatives across India and bring us closer to the common goal of ending TB.

IPH Bengaluru’s Role:
Selected after a meticulous evaluation of three institutions (IPH, ISB, PSPH), IPH Bengaluru emerged as the ideal choice based on its expertise in public health research, learning management, capacity to host and alignment with organizational priorities. The IPH is a public health research, non-profit organization established with a vision to create an equitable, integrated, decentralized, and participatory health system within a just and empowered society.

The National Secretariat launch event marked a pivotal moment in the TBPPM-LN India journey, aligning with the local context, fostering domestic fundraising for future sustainability and aligning with CTD/NTSU and their ongoing PPM efforts.

Launch Highlights:
The official launch event was held virtually on Nov 23rd, witnessed the presence of esteemed members, including the TBPPM Advisory Committee, TB PPM Global team/India team, PPM Implementers (REACH, DFY, WHP), Head of IAPSM, NGOs, a government official from NTSU and IPH staff. Engaging discussions, insightful presentations, and collaborative networking were the hallmarks of the occasion.

Key actionable points included were:

Knowledge dissemination through articles, blogs, newsletters, and feature stories.
Nurture a community of practitioners in their TB PPM journey.
Facilitate and coordinate South-South collaboration.
Bringing together various stakeholders to work on a particular research agenda.

Future Prospects:

With the launch of the TBPPM India National Secretariat, the network is poised for significant progress. IPH Bengaluru will play a central role in coordinating TB PPM activities and generating knowledge products that will benefit TB PPM practitioners across the nation.