IPH, Bengaluru staff participate in the 5th National Conference on Tobacco or Health

IPH, Bengaluru staff participate in the 5th National Conference on Tobacco or Health

by | Oct 15, 2021 | Anusthana: Scaling Implementation of Tobacco Control Laws, Blog, Chronic Health Conditions, DEEP, Events, Latest Updates

Thirteen members of the Chronic Conditions and Public Policies cluster at IPH actively participated in the three day conference of the 5th National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH). This three-day scientific programme focused on diverse public health issues and challenges in tobacco control at the national and sub-national level along with context-specific solutions for their replication towards achieving tobacco free environments. There were plenary sessions, panel discussions, symposia, oral presentation, poster discussion, and workshops on many aspects of tobacco control which will pave the way towards building effective policy and program.

Dr Upendra Bhojani, Riddhi Dsouza, Anand Kumar, Kanika Chaudhary, Ketki Shah, Dr Pragati Hebbar, Vivek Dsouza, Dr Chandrashekar Kottagi, Kranthi Vysyaraju, Aishwarya Ashok, Praveen Rao, Achyutha Nagara Gadde and Kumaran P from the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bengaluru actively participated in this 3-day national conference held between September 25 and 27, 2021.
Dr Upendra Bhojani, Director, IPH Bengaluru on Day 1 (September 25, 2021) was in a panel discussion and presented on “How should we approach commercial determinant of health?”, he was part of the plenary session on September 26, 2021 on “Emerging Issues in Tobacco Control: Contextualising Global Interventions” and he presented on “Tobacco Industry Interference”.

Dr Pragati Hebbar made two oral presentations- “Implementation’ of tobacco control policies in LMICs – a realist synthesis to explain the process and its facilitators and barriers” and the second, “LifeFirst: Impact of a school-based tobacco- and supari-cessation intervention among adolescents in Mumbai, India.”

This national conference was a boost to tobacco control efforts by the amalgamation of tobacco control professionals, health programme managers, public health experts, civil society advocates, academicians and researchers of various clinical and non-clinical disciplines from different states across the country under one roof who shared their contextual experiences and best practices in tobacco control which was aimed to ultimately lead to advancing tobacco control in the country.

To get a glimpse of the 5th NCTOH click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drv30sDRoTU

The art of data collection in health system research

The art of data collection in health system research

by | Apr 21, 2016 | Blog, Latest Updates

meena's blog on health system researchThe art of data collection in health system research: Lessons learned from the field.

Data collection is the most important aspect any research endeavour. Poor quality of the data will have impact on the results of the research study.Therefore it is vital for the researchers to adopt appropriate data collection methods to ensure quality data.Here is a blog by Meena Putturaj which highlights the practicalities of data collection in health systems research based on the field experiences.

Data collection is a crucial aspect of any research project. Depending on the nature and scope of the research question, collecting quality data requires considerable investment of time and resources. Indeed, any research endeavour is handicapped without the relevant data.

During a recent health systems research project, I had to collect a lot of information from government agencies, which turned out to be no cake walk. There were occasions when I had to wait for hours at a time to collect documents, to meet officials, and to conduct interviews. Those waiting periods gave me sufficient time to observe and reflect on the functioning of some of the government agencies in India.

Health systems research often requires data from, and cooperation by, the state sector authorities. So, as a rule of thumb, the health systems researchers work closely with government officials and will require data from them, the interpretation of which might reflect negatively upon those state sector authorities. This can, I think, make some officials and other employees feel that they are being cross examined or interrogated when researchers go to collect data from them. The various situations that I’ve been in while collecting data from government officials have enabled me to develop skills to deal with this tension and the struggle of getting relevant data. The following strategies have worked well for me while trying to obtain data:

To read more about  “The art of data collection in health system research” : Click here

 

Managing Hypertension and Diabetes in Resource Poor Settings:- By Bheemaray V M

Managing Hypertension and Diabetes in Resource Poor Settings:- By Bheemaray V M

by | Nov 17, 2015 | Blog, Latest Updates

bheemaimgAccording to the Diabetes Atlas 2006, the number of people with diabetes in India is currently around 40.9 million and is expected to rise to 69.9 million by 2025. Similarly, 118 million people were estimated to have high blood pressure in the year 2000, which is expected to go up to 213 million in 2025.

To address this situation, the Indian government launched the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Stroke (NPCDCS) to 364 districts and Tumkur is one of them.Managing Hypertension and Diabetes in Resource Poor Settings:- By Bheemaray V M

I want to share my experience of working in Tumkur, one of the rural districts of Karnataka, as part of a research project aiming to strengthen care for hypertension and diabetes in two primary health centers (PHCs) with using available sources.

Link to Bheemaray V M blog’s on BMJ:- Click Here