Anusthana’s protocol paper published in BMJ

Anusthana’s protocol paper published in BMJ

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, Latest Updates

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

Evaluation of a school-based tobacco/supari cessation program

Evaluation of a school-based tobacco/supari cessation program

by | Jun 14, 2021 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, Latest Updates

Consultancy project with the State Anti-Tobacco Cell

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. 

Workshop on Preventing TII (Chhattisgarh & Manipur)

Workshop on Preventing TII (Chhattisgarh & Manipur)

by | Apr 20, 2021 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, DEEP, Latest Updates

Consultancy project with the State Anti-Tobacco Cell

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.

Paper on Parliamentary Questions Related to Tobacco in India

Paper on Parliamentary Questions Related to Tobacco in India

by | Apr 13, 2021 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, DEEP, Latest Updates

Consultancy project with the State Anti-Tobacco Cell

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.

We would like to thank DBT/ WT India Alliance for their support. The paper can be accessed here.

 

Women’s day celebration at IPH field station

Women’s day celebration at IPH field station

by | Mar 18, 2021 | Blog, Events, Health Equity and Evaluation, Latest Updates, Uncategorized

ಮಾರ್ಚ್ 8 2021, ಬಿಳಿರಂಗನ ಬೆಟ್ಟ : ಸೋಲಿಗ ಆದಿವಾಸಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆ. ಗ್ರಾಮಪಂಚಾಯತ್ ಬಿಳಿರಂಗನ ಬೆಟ್ಟ, ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಬುಡಕಟ್ಟು ಸೋಲಿಗ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಸಂಘ (ರಿ), ಇನ್ಸ್ಟಿಟ್ಯೂಟ್ ಪಬ್ಲಿಕ್ ಹೆಲ್ತ್ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಮತ್ತು ವಿವೇಕಾನಂದ ಗಿರಿಜನ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಇದರ ಸಹಯೋಗದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸೋಲಿಗ ಆದಿವಾಸಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಅಂತರರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆಯನ್ನು ಗ್ರಾಮ ಪಂಚಾಯತ್ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ರಂಗಮ್ಮ ನಾಗರಾಜ್ ಉದ್ಘಾಟಿಸಿದರು. ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಾಗಿ ಆಗಮಿಸಿದ ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್. ತಾನ್ಯ, ಅಂತರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆಯ ಮಹತ್ವವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು, ಡಾ. ಸಿ ಮಾದೇಗೌಡರು ಮಹಿಳೆಯ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆಯ ಪರವಾಗಿ ಅನಾದಿಕಾಲದಿಂದಲೂ ಆದಿವಾಸಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪುರುಷರು ಮತ್ತು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು ಸಮಾನರು, ಆದರೆ ಇತ್ತೀಚಿನ ಕಾಲಘಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕಂತೆ ಸಮುದಾಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಬದಲಾವಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ಆದರೆ ಸಮುದಾಯದ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಪರಂಪರೆಯನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸುವುದು ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವೆಂದು ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು. ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅತಿಥಿಗಳಾಗಿ ಆಗಮಿಸಿದ ಇನ್ಸ್ಟಿಟ್ಯೂಟ್ ಪಬ್ಲಿಕ್ ಹೆಲ್ತ್ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಇದರ ಸಹಾಯಕ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರಾದ ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಪ್ರಶಾಂತ , ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಆದಿವಾಸಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರಿಗೆ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಹಿಳಾ ದಿನದ ಪರವಾಗಿ ಶುಭ ಹಾರೈಸಿದರು, ಹಾಗೂ ಗ್ರಾಮ ಪಂಚಾಯತ್ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸದಸ್ಯರು ಶುಭಹಾರೈಸಿದರು, ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಬುಡಕಟ್ಟು ಸೋಲಿಗ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಸಂಘದ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಸಿ ಮಾದೇವ್, ಜಿಲ್ಲಾ ಪಂಚಾಯತ್ ಮಾಜಿ ಉಪಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾದ ಕೆತಮ್ಮ, ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಯೋಗೀಶ್, ಡಾಕ್ಟರ್ ಮಾನಸ, ಮಹಂತೇಶ್ ಇತರರು ಭಾಗವಹಿಸಿದ್ದರು, ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ಮಹಾದೇವಮ್ಮ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ನಿರೂಪಿಸಿ ವಂದಿಸಿದರು.

ಪೋಡುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮಧ್ಯಪಾನ ಮತ್ತು ಧೂಮಪಾನ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಮುಂದಿನ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇದರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಜಾಗ್ರತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಹೋರಾಟ ಮಾಡಬೇಕೆಂದು ಸಮುದಾಯದ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರು ಚರ್ಚೆ ಮಾಡಿದರು.

India Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2020

India Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2020

by | Feb 9, 2021 | Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, DEEP, Latest Updates

Consultancy project with the State Anti-Tobacco Cell

Led by Dr. Upendra Bhojani and Adhip Amin from IPH, the India Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2020 report has been produced through a collaborative work of several institutions and individuals active in tobacco control research and practice in India. The report was released in September 2020 at the 5th National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH)-Virtual. Dr. Upendra Bhojani participated in the conference and was a panelist in a session that focused on Stopping Tobacco Industry Interference. The NCTOH panel talk and release is available here at NCTOH youtube page.

This report is a systematic and collaborative effort at assessing the implementation of the WHO FCTC Article 5.3 in India. The Tobacco Industry Interference Index helps to assess the implementation of the FCTC Article 5.3 through standardized tools using a systematic inquiry and materials in the public domain. Index report and summary are available for download at the India country page on the Global Tobacco Index webportal.

Tobacco industry interference in public policies remains a major concern in India. The overall score for the India 2020 Tobacco Industry Interference Index is 61 out of 100. This suggests a small but definite improvement in implementation of the FCTC Article 5.3 in 2019 compared to the year 2018 (score 69/100) and 2017 (score 72/100). Higher score indicates greater interference.