Chronic Conditions & Public Policies | Institute of Public Health Bengaluru

Chronic Health Conditions & Public Policies

Chronic conditions are the health issues that require ongoing management over a period of years or decades. They include chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) but also a few communicable diseases and conditions (like disabilities) that lasts longer. The chronic conditions are on the rise globally and in India, where it has become a leading cause of deaths and disabilities.

PRIORITIES

TOBacco control

Road safety

Multisectoral Actions for Health

Tobacco Control

In India, 28.6% of adults and 14.6% of youth – in total over 26.7 crores (~ 266 million) are the current users of tobacco in some form. Tobacco use causes over 12.8 lakh (~1.2 million) deaths every year in India. Total economic cost from all the diseases caused by tobacco use in India in a year is estimated to be INR 104500 crore (~ 1045 billion). Tobacco use is a common major risk factor for chronic conditions, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. This thematic explores empirical ways to reduce tobacco use in India and the associated health, economic and ecologic burden.

Current Projects

NCD

DRITHI:Developing Research and action capacity in India To counter Harm Industries

NCD

REALISE:Realist Evaluation Advancement Lab for Implementation Strategy Explanations

Past Projects

Access to Medicines

Deciphering Epidemic of Epic Proportion

NCD

Anushtana: Scaling Implementation of Tobacco Control Laws

NCD

Comprehensive Tobacco Control Karnataka

NCD

Youth and On-screen Tobacco Use – Value of Media Rating System

NCD

Tobacco-Free Youth (TOFY): an initiative in rural Karnataka

NCD

Youth and Tobacco Use

Access to Medicines

Tobacco and Political Concerns

Road Safety

Nearly 90% of all road fatalities occur in low- and middle- income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles. In India, one road crash happens each minute and one life is lost to road crashes every four minutes – with over 150000 individuals losing their lives in road crashes each year. Under this thematic, we explore how to strengthen policies for road safety and their implementation at different levels.

NCD

Safer roads Bengaluru

NCD

Advocacy for stronger road safety and transport legislation in India

Multisectoral Actions for Health

Health is seen as a dynamic state of physical, mental and social well-being. Health, especially at a population level, is impacted by several social, economic, environmental, cultural and political factors. Hence, enhancing population health requires coordinated actions across sectors, beyond just the healthcare sector. This thematic explores ways of engendering multisectoral actions for health and promoting health through public policies across different sectors (health-in all policy approach).

NCD

Health-in All and the Tribal Population in South India

NCD

Health-in All Policy and NCDs

NCD

Health-in All Policy and Tobacco Control

Updates

IPH Bengaluru team attend 6th NCTOH

IPH Bengaluru team attend 6th NCTOH

Faculty and staff from the Cluster on Chronic Health Conditions & Public Policy at the Institute of Public Health (IPH) Bengaluru attended the 6th National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) organized by the International Institute of Health Management...

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Chronic conditions are the health issues that require ongoing management over a period of years or decades. They include chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) but also a few communicable diseases and conditions (like disabilities) that lasts longer. The chronic conditions are on the rise globally and in India, where it has become a leading cause of deaths and disabilities. There are several factors implicated in the rise in chronic conditions, from genetics and individual lifestyle to changes in demography and the broader environment. Therefore, prevention and management of chronic conditions require an inter-disciplinary and inter-sectoral engagement.

In this cluster, we are specifically interested in how health policies and policies across other related sectors impact prevention and control of chronic conditions at a population level, including the major risk factors for such conditions such as tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diet and inadequate physical exercise. The cluster builds on the premise that broader social determinants of health operating at the macro- and the meso-level influence the individual behavioural choices (lifestyle) as well as shape the environment in which these choices are to be made.

Hence, our focus on public policies and intersectoral actions for health. In this context, we are also interested in studying the increasing role being played by commercial entities in shaping the epidemic of chronic conditions as well as the policy responses. The cluster aims to deepen our work on some of the relevant concepts/approaches including but not limited to ‘social determinants of health’, ‘political economy of health’, ‘health-in all policy’ and ‘harm industries’.

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