31st National Road Safety Week – January 2020

31st National Road Safety Week – January 2020

1.5 lakh lives are lost every year and many more are debilitated on Indian roads due to road crashes. This causes the families of victims with immense economic hardship and emotional trauma. According to the WHO reports, road crashes are one of the leading cause of deaths among the youth between the ages of 5-29 in India and worldwide.

To make our roads safe for all road users and to reduce the crash rates, every year “National Road Safety Week” is observed throughout the country. The focus of the activities of this week is to create more awareness among road users about the road safety and to emphasize good road using practices.

To observe this year’s 31st National Road Safety Week, Institute of Public Health in association with HKBK Group of institutions and Indian Degree College under banner of Safer roads Bengaluru initiative organised a bunch of activities from 14th to 17th of Jan 2020 at our selected stretch of road in Bengaluru. Signature campaign #IResolve4RoadSafety, Quiz on road safety for public and college students, Human chains at major junctions are the main activities among all other activities.

We were at all major junctions of the selected stretch of road from Hebbal to K R Puram throughout the Road Safety Week. A signature wall with student volunteers was present at all the junctions seeking public commitment for road safety. Around 3000 people committed for safer road usage through signing on our campaign wall.
Quiz on road safety witnessed more than 5000 participation. Winners of the quiz were awarded with a ISI marked 2-wheeler helmets by #SaferroadsBLR initiative. We also engaged people through our social media platform Facebook and twitter for the broader reach.

Film Screening: Health in All and the Tribal Population in South India

Film Screening: Health in All and the Tribal Population in South India

The IPH Knowledge Management Committee invites you to attend the screening of “Health in All and the Tribal Population in South India.” directed by professional filmmaker Lode Desmet. The film was made along with public health researchers at IPH, Bangalore and ITM, Antwerp and was officially released at the Bringing Evidence into Public Health Policy (EPHP) conference in Bangalore in July 2016.

Collaborative research with tribal populations in South India confirmed and unraveled social exclusion as a major obstacle to health and well-being. The documentary makes a case for a ‘Health in All’ approach, starting from the realities and needs, voiced by members of tribal communities.

The screening will be followed by a discussion. You are invited to join the film screening in person or over Zoom, using the link below: https://zoom.us/j/701662546

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Affiliation

ITM, Antwerp & IPH, Bengaluru

Date

 9 – January – 2020

Time

3:30 pm – 4.30 pm

Venue

Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru

3009, II-A Main, 17th Cross, KR Rd, Siddanna Layout,
Banashankari Stage II, Banashankari,
Bengaluru, Karnataka 560070

Public lecture at IIHS

Public lecture at IIHS

The director at IPH, Dr. Upendra Bhojani, gave a public lecture at IIHS in the ‘Publics’ lecture series.  The talk was on Dr. Bhojani’s long standing work on the role of local health systems in poor urban neighbourhoods in Bangalore. The talk emphasised that there is an urgent need to strengthen local health systems to provide affordable and quality care to a large number of people, particularly to the urban poor, living with chronic conditions. It unpacked the complex dynamics of local health system. Dr. Bhojani also highlighted the need to go beyond just improving the health systems – to further address other social determinants of chronic conditions such as poverty, age- and gender-based social norms, family structure, and inadequate social care provision.

A video recording of the talk can be watched here.

ITM visit

The director at IPH, Dr. Upendra Bhojani, attended the Be-cause health international conference on Urban health, organized by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. It was held on 15-16 October 2019 in Brussels. The conference sought to “address the following questions: How to achieve universal access to health in cities? What is the best way to organize health services and the health system in urban settings? How does addressing the impact of urban life impact on the health of urban populations?” 

With respect to institutional building, Dr. Bhojani had a meeting with the new director of ITM, Marc-Alain Widdowson. The new director was briefed about the overview of IPH, the role of IPH-ITM partnership in the past, and how do we see the partnership with ITM in future. Dr. Bhojani also along with Diljith Kannan had a joint partners meeting wherein they discussed on  working together through innovations in partnerships and joint-education activities. 


PGIMER 2019

PGIMER 2019

The Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, organized the  2nd Public Health Policy and Management Program from 30th September to the 4th of October, 2019. The program was sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India under ITEC scheme. The motivation of the program was “to enhance the understanding of senior level policy makers about best practices in Public Health Policy and Management of India for addressing contextual public health challenges for overall attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” 

The director at IPH, Dr. Upendra Bhojani, delivered two lectures. The first one was on agenda setting and policy implementation of public health policies. The second lecture dealt with the politics of health policy. There were participants from more than a dozen countries. This was a flagship program of its kind on public health policies. Further collaboration between PGIMER and IPH was also discussed.


Photo Caption: PGIMER

 

World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims

World Day of Remembrance for road traffic victims

Every year, about 1.5 lakh Indians die from road injuries while about 5 lakhs sustain serious injuries. Karnataka, with a population of over 6.1 crores, accounts for the third-largest number of road injuries and the fourth-highest number of road traffic deaths in India.

To remember the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads, together with their families, friends and many others who are also affected, people around the world observe the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) in the month of November every year.

Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru in association with Maharani Cluster University, Bengaluru, along with Padmasree school of public health — under the banner of Safer Roads Bengaluru initiative organized an awareness program where the students formed a human chain on Saturday, 16th November 2019 to commemorate this Year’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR).

Shri. P C Mohan, Member of Parliament inaugurated the program. Addressing the students, he said, “Karnataka alone witnesses around ten thousand deaths and more than 50000 injuries every year due to road crashes. Adhering to traffic rules is the only way to reduce this. Youth should stop showing negligence towards traffic rules. By following traffic rules, one can, not only save his own life but also contribute to safeguarding other’s life as well.”

 Dr. Asha Abikar, Deputy Director of State Road Safety Authority said “Bangalore city alone witnesses around 650 road traffic deaths every year. To safeguard the lives of road users, the Government has recently amended the Motor Vehicle Act and increased the fine amount.  People especially Youth should follow traffic rules and become an asset for the nation.”

Dr. Upendra Bhojani, Director of the Institute of Public Health explained the safer roads Bengaluru initiative and stressed the need for the people’s commitment towards road safety.

The event was presided by Prof. Dr. M.S. Reddy, Special Officer, Maharani Cluster University.

Mr. Kumaraswamy who lost his 20-year-old daughter in a recent road crash, narrated the painful loss of his daughter. He encouraged students to be mindful of traffic rules and road safety.