by iphindia | May 25, 2011 | Blog, Urban Health Action
Another day in the field, accompanied by community health assistants (CHA) we started walking under burning sun for house visit. We visited few houses and left with many questions. But one of the issues made me think who decides when wife becomes mother??
CHA’s took me to Mumtaz (name changed), young charming pregnant ladies house to talk because she had history of previous two abortions!!! When asked about the incident and on further probing it seemed like something was not normal. She was enthusiastic to talk and show all the reports and prescription but could notice some inhibition to talk about abortion. We didn’t want to hurt her emotions, so left that issue and advised to go for regular check up and started talking to her neighbor.
It was her neighbor who gave an insight into the hidden side of the story, which raised many questions about wife’s freedom/choice, ect. The previous abortions were induced by her husband without the wife knowledge because he was not ready to be a father!! Did Mumtaz share the same feeling?? Nobody asked her nor her husband thought it was necessary to tell her before giving those medicines. The simple question anyone would ask is how he did that…it is so easy to buy medicine over the pharmacy counter and asking wife to take it, who has no clue what it may do to her unborn child!!!
My feeling was that she had no regrets or pain for that incident other than wanting to hide it from us. I felt she has accepted it without questioning because she choose her partner without her parents’ consent and now she has no support from both the families. We had nothing to say except that we are like your family please feel free to come and talk to us whenever you feel like.
Can this be a reason for husband to abort her baby without her knowledge or because he is not ready to father a child? Why people think that abortion is the easier way to prevent a child than to use contraceptive?? Is it a lack of knowledge? Should it be so easy for anyone to buy medicine over the counter and misuse it?? Who has to be blamed for this-system or the socio cultural aspect or male dominance in the society??
And what is the whole story??
![RSBY workshop at Chhattisgarh]()
by iphindia | May 12, 2011 | Latest Updates, Research
Dr.Tanya Seshadri attended the 3rd National workshop of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana was conducted in Raipur, Chhattisgarh from May 3rd to 5th. This national workshop was organised by the Ministry of Labour & Employment and the State Nodal Agency, Chhattisgarh. This workshop brought together stakeholders from across the country to a common platform for discussion. They included State nodal agencies (SNA), Insurance companies (IC), Third party administrators (TPA), Smart card providers (SCPs), few hospitals involved & interested NGOs.
The workshop was inaugurated by the Hon. CM of Chhattisgarh and was followed by brief discussions by representatives of Ministries of Labour & Employment, and Rural development. A simple award ceremony was also conducted to recognise stakeholders for their outstanding service to the scheme in their respective field in each region.
The three day workshop had a systematic approach of presentations and discussions from past experiences and enrollment procedures to data analysis and future plans. Each topic was presented by an SNA/IC team who had been recognised for their work in that particular issue. This use of experiential learning made it easier to comprehend and interesting for all irrespective of their involvement/prior knowledge of RSBY procedure and activities. This in addition to the guidance of key facilitators ensured participation of various stakeholders in all discussions. The focus of the entire workshop appeared to be finding solutions for problems presented via discussions and consensus. Almost all participants appeared to be quite motivated and interested in proceedings of all the sessions judging by the attendance and intensity of discussions across the days.
All documents and media concerning RSBY had been compiled, written to a CD, and made available to all participants. All presentations made during the course will soon be made available on the website in a short time. Apart from the national workshop, regional state level workshops and district level workshops are also regularly conducted.
Presentations of the RSBY workshop
by iphindia | Dec 3, 2010 | Blog, Urban Health Action
Another day of immense learning and many unanswered questions in mind!!! (more…)
by iphindia | Jul 16, 2010 | Blog, Urban Health Action
IPH’s urban health team has begun the training of community health workers. This is a three month training. Classroom sessions will be three days a week alternated with field exercises. The objective of the training is to prepare community members to become community health workers. (more…)
by iphindia | Jul 4, 2010 | Advocacy, Latest Updates, Publications, Research
Publication year: 2009
Publication type: Conference presentation – Poster
Conference: 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health
Citation: Bhojani U, Chander SJ, Devadasan N. Tobacco use and related factors among South-Indian metropolis. 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, Mumbai, March 2009. (more…)
by iphindia | Jul 4, 2010 | Administrative & Political advocacy, Advocacy, Latest Updates, Publications, Research
Publication year: 2010
Publication type: Conference presentation – Poster
Conference: 3rd South Asian regional symposium on evidence informed health care
Citation: Bhojani U. Using evidence to inform policy making and implementation: a case of tobacco control in Karnataka, 3rd South Asian regional symposium on evidence informed health care & 8th winter symposium, Christian Medical College, Vellore – India, January 2010 (more…)
