(BMJ) Tobacco Control recently published a paper by Dr. Upendra Bhojani and Riddhi Dsouza from the DEEP project at the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru. The paper analysed how several states in India used food laws to ban certain smokeless tobacco products overcoming the intense legal resistance mounted by the tobacco industry. This was done by analysing all the tobacco-related litigations under food law in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. The full text of the paper titled “Strategic and contested use of food laws to ban smokeless tobacco products in India: a qualitative analysis of litigation” can be found here.
We are pleased to invite you to the Institute of Public Health (IPH) ‘Annual day 2021’, This year marks the completion of 16 years in the field of public health and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our collaborators, adjunct faculty, honorary associates, ex-employees, well wishers, staff and others who have been part of this journey.
IPH Panel Discussion&Oration is a public event, please feel free to disseminate in your networks.
Agenda (IST): Opening remarks (2 to 2:15 pm) Panel Discussion (2:15 to 3:15 pm) Oration (3:15 to 4:15 pm) Cultural program & closing remarks (4:15 to 4:30 pm)
Panel Discussion
Topic: “One pandemic, many experiences. Reflections from diverse experiences during COVID-19” Moderator:Dr. Prashanth N Srinivas
Title: “Health, education and livelihoods for Adivasis through forest rights: the journey of the Solega community in Chamarajanagar, Karnataka”
Dr. C. Madegowda, PhD
is a social scientist and tribal rights activist from Bangalee Podu in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve in Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka. He is involved with the implementation of the Forest Rights Act among many Adivasi communities of Karnataka. A Senior Research Associate at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology & Environment, he has held several positions of leadership in the taluka, district and state level Solega and other Adivasi sanghas. He leads participatory resource monitoring of sustainable harvesting of non timber products by Adivasi communities, mentors many Solega youth towards leadership and community action and holds the distinction of being the first PhD graduate from the Solega people.
16th Annual Day of IPH, Bengaluru
The Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bengaluru celebrated IPH Annual Day- 2021, marking the completion of 16 years on September 3, 2021. The annual day was attended by many collaborators, adjunct faculty, honorary associates, ex-employees, well-wishers, staff, and others who made it a successful virtual-Annual Day-2021 for us.
The annual day began with an introduction to IPH and its work during the COVID-19 pandemic and how we adapted to the new normal. Over the last year, researchers at IPH participated in 10 conferences, attended 11 courses, were part of 11 teaching engagements, 12 oral presentations, published 14 peer-reviewed scientific publications and several blogs, and conducted 3 webinars and 7 training sessions.
In the education domain of our institute, we trained 20 students in e-Public Health Management course, 57 students in Scientific Writing and Reference management course, 37 students completed their certificate programme in research methods, 12 students in essential concepts in Financing for health systems and 7 students were trained in Good health research practice course.
IPH was instrumental in setting up the India Health Policy and Systems Research Fellowships Programme, a premier capacity building program in the country and facilitated along with other institutional collaborators in successfully completing the online training phase, and developing the mentorship strategy for the program.
We at IPH played our part by raising awareness about COVID-19, supporting primary health care facilities in Bengaluru and Chamarajanagar, working in dealing effectively with COVID-19, and providing technical assistance to state and national agencies.
Here is a short video of what IPH contributed to society and a testimonial of beneficiaries and other stakeholders:
Followed by the testimonial video, we conducted a panel discussion with a title: “One pandemic, many experiences, reflection from diverse experiences during Covid-19” moderated by Dr. Prashanth NS, Assistant Director (Research), IPH Bengaluru. The panelist for the discussion was: Dr. Vishal Rao is presently the Chief of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology & Robotic Surgery at HCG Cancer Centre, Bangalore. He is the inventor of ‘Aum Voice Prosthesis’ a $1 speaking device for throat cancer patients; Dr. Roopa Devadasan is a Public health doctor who turned into a yoga teacher after twelve years of practicing medicine. She has been teaching science and yoga to children; Dr. Harini Nagendra is the Director of Research Center at the University and leads the University’s Center for Climate Change and Sustainability and Ms.Uma Mahadevan is currently serving as Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj, Women & child development, Govt of Karnataka. She has served in multiple capacities at the central and the state, prominent among them are as principal secretary in the department of agriculture, education, health & family welfare, women & child development.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Followed by this, we had an interesting Oration session by Dr. C Madegowda, a tribal rights activist. The session was introduced by Dr. Pragati Hebbar, Assistant Director (Administration), IPH Bengaluru
Dr. Madegowda is an eminent social scientist and an Adivasi rights activist coming from the Bangalee podo of the Billigiri Ramaswamy betta Tiger reserve in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He holds the distinction of being the first PhD scholar from the Solega community. He works as a senior research associate at the Ashoka Trust for research in ecology and the environment. Dr. Madegowda has been working very closely with the implementation of the Forest right act and various issues surrounding it among Solega as well as other forest-dwelling Adivasi communities in Karnataka. He has held various leadership positions at different levels, at the taluka, district at state within Solega, and broader Adivasi community structures or sanghas.
ORATION SESSION
As part of the cultural event, we organized a small dance piece performed by Surya School of Performing Arts, Bengaluru which was followed by the Vote of thanks.
CULTURAL ACTIVITY By SURYA SCHOOL
We would like to take this opportunity to convey our gratitude to everyone who has been part of this journey.
Dr. Pragati Hebbar together with Vivek Dsouza, Upendra Bhojani, Onno CP van Schayck, Dr. Giridhara Babu, and Gera Nagelhout co-authored a protocol paper titled “Implementation research for taking tobacco control policies to scale in India: a realist evaluation study protocol”. This protocol is part of project ‘Anushthana’ and outlines the five-year study undertaken within the Chronic Conditions and Public Policies cluster at the Institute of Public Health (IPH). Tobacco use is responsible for 1.3 million deaths in India each year and is a major public health threat. Although comprehensive tobacco control measures like the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, and the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) exist, implementation remains varied and suboptimal across Indian states. Through this study protocol, our attempt is to understand the implementation landscape in India with respect to tobacco control.
We do this by
Assessing the implementation process of current tobacco control policies.
Identifying the underlying conditions for variation during implementation
Identifying the factors that support or undermine implementation in settings where issues around tobacco are complex and multi-dimensional.
Anushthana is funded by the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance. The protocol paper is published in BMJ Open and can be accessed here
Dr. Upendra Bhojani, co-authored a paper in Population Medicine journal, along with Dr. Pragati Hebbar and Amiti Varma from the Chronic Conditions and Public Policies cluster at IPH-Bengaluru. The paper evaluated a school-based tobacco/supari cessation intervention programme helping corporation school students in Mumbai. This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a difference-in-difference analysis approach. The full-text can be accessed here.
In two separate workshops held in December last year, Dr. Upendra Bhojani (Director, IPH-Bengaluru) was invited to serve as a resource person (virtual) on Tobacco Industry Interference (TII). The workshops were held in Chhattisgarh (16th December, 2020) and Manipur (21st December, 2020).
Dr. Bhojani spoke about TII and the broad array of tactics and strategies used directly or indirectly by the tobacco industry to interfere with, or influence, the setting and implementation of effective tobacco control measures as per Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC guidelines.
The State level Consultation Workshops were organised by the State Tobacco Control Cell of the respective states.
Dr. Upendra Bhojani, co-authored a paper in the BMJ Global Health, along with Amiti Varma & Latha Chilgod of the Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru. This is the first peer-reviewed paper from the DEEP project titled “Diverse and competing interests around tobacco: qualitative analysis of two decades of parliamentary questions in India”. The paper analysed 1315 tobacco-related questions asked by 729 MPs over the two decades (1999-2019).
MPs had concerns about health (consumption patterns; harms; cessation; regulations); trade (production & export; Tobacco Board of India; market growth); agriculture (support for farmers); labour (working conditions; alternative livelihoods; impacts of regulations). The nature of concerns changed over time with health becoming a dominant concern. Other issues like trade took somewhat of a back seat, possibly due to a growing awareness on health harms and incremental tobacco control regulations.
Livelihood and economy-related concerns persisted throughout. The number of MPs asking tobacco-related questions varied widely across states. States, from where maximum MPs asked questions (Andhra Pradesh; Maharashtra; Uttar Pradesh; Karnataka; Tamil Nadu in that order) are the states with a greater presence of tobacco industry.
Key takeaways: (1) parliamentary questions, that remain underutilized in health policy research, could be a useful resource; (2) tobacco evokes diverse & competing interests implying a need for careful mediation and consultative approach to policy making for public health gains; (3) In India, state-level (economic, political, historical, cultural) contexts are crucial in understanding the political economy of tobacco and formulating tobacco control regulations; (4) identifying key concerns help public health folks engage with diverse political voices when tobacco control reforms are planned/executed enhancing political support across sectors and constituencies for tobacco control.
