by iphindia | Apr 29, 2022 | Anusthana: Scaling Implementation of Tobacco Control Laws, Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, Latest Updates, Uncategorized
The burden of tobacco-related illnesses is high in India, with about 1.35 million people dying each year. Despite comprehensive tobacco control laws and policies, implementation is varied among Indian states. The Anushthana project organized two regional consultations—held online and in-person in Raipur, Chhattisgarh—in association with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). The consultations brought together government officials from health, food safety, police and relevant departments, independent researchers, and members from civil society organizations from 18 states and union territories who are working in the field of tobacco control and public health.
The purpose of the regional consultations were to
- Discuss state-specific tobacco control implementation strategies
- Cross-pollinate ideas and facilitate research and practice collaborations in tobacco control
- Promote leadership and highlight a set of best practices in tobacco control.
by iphindia | Feb 8, 2022 | Anusthana: Scaling Implementation of Tobacco Control Laws, Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, Latest Updates, Uncategorized
Tobacco kills over one million adults in a high-burden country like India each year. Despite a comprehensive tobacco control law – the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, implementation remains varied across Indian states due to several contextual factors. The Anushthana team members (Dr. Pragati Hebbar, Vivek Dsouza, Praveen Rao S, and Kumaran P) of the Chronic Conditions and Public Policies cluster at IPH visited three Indian states i.e. West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Kerala during the months of November and December 2021. The objective of the field visit was to understand local contexts and on-ground implementation successes and challenges in the field of tobacco control. The team undertook field observations in three districts of each state focussing on the implementation of COTPA sections 4, 5, 6, and 7. Simultaneously, the team met relevant stakeholders to understand their views on tobacco control policy implementation.
To aid the data collection, the team worked with Julee Jerang (IPH field consultant in Arunachal Pradesh) and MANT (a non-profit public health organisation in West Bengal). The field visit is part of a five-year research fellowship awarded to Dr. Pragati Hebbar and is funded by the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance.
by iphindia | Dec 8, 2011 | Publications
Lifestyle modifications through a range of health care practices are considered central to the management, control and prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases. While there is a critical perspective on the epistemologies of such global health discourses in existing literature, empirical evidence on how people engage with such prescriptive lifestyle modifications in different cultural contexts is very limited. The paper in this context draws on illness narratives of heart patients to discuss about the anxiety and uncertainty expressed by patients and others about notions of what constitutes ‘healthy’ and ‘risky’. It specifically unpacks the global-local dynamics in the construction of risk and healthy lifestyle and examines the contexts in which such global discourses are embodied, resisted or negotiated in different cultural contexts. The paper also examines how global health discourses travel to local sites through popular press. The paper draws on evidence collected through analyzing two Indian national English dailies and in-depth interviews with heart patients and their family members in Delhi, India in 2007-2008.
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by iphindia | Oct 4, 2011 | Publications
Worldwide, measles still kills 400 people every day, more than 90% of them being under-fives. Three out of four deaths happen in India, India’s progress in measles control is a major determining factor in global control of measles. Prevention of measles deaths is key to achieve millennium development goal 4; that is to reduce under-five mortality by two thirds by 2015. There is limited literature available on measles epidemiology in India. No measles surveillance was done before 2006. Built on an existing flaccid paralysis surveillance system, a measles surveillance programme was launched in four southern states of India in 2006, among them Karnataka. The objectives of this work is to describe the epidemiology of measles in Karnataka and to identify ways to improve measles control in the state.
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by iphindia | Aug 26, 2011 | Latest Updates, Publications
Purpose
Recently, the Indian government launched health insurance schemes for the poor both to protect them from highhealth spending and to improve access to high-quality health services. This article aims to review the potentials of healthinsurance interventions in order to improve access to quality care in India based on experiences of community health insurance schemes.
Data sources
PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE (R), All EBM Reviews, CSA Sociological Abstracts, CSA Social Service Abstracts,EconLit, Science Direct, the ISI Web of Knowledge, Social Science Research Network and databases of research centers were searched up to September 2010. An Internet search was executed.
Study selection.
One thousand hundred and thirty-three papers were assessed for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-five papers were selected providing information on eight schemes.
Data extraction.
A realist review was performed using Hirschman’s exit-voice theory: mechanisms to improve exit strategies (financial assets and infrastructure) and strengthen patient’s long voice route (quality management) and short voice route (patient pressure).
Results of data synthesis.
All schemes use a mix of measures to improve exit strategies and the long voice route. Most mechanisms are not effective in reality. Schemes that focus on the patients’ bargaining position at the patient-provider interface
seem to improve access to quality care.
Conclusion.
Top-down health insurance interventions with focus on exit strategies will not work out fully in the Indian context. Government must actively facilitate the potential of CHI schemes to emancipate the target group so that they may transform from mere passive beneficiaries into active participants in their health.
Keywords: health insurance, quality improvement, access to care, community health insurance, realist review, India
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