public health management Archives - Institute of Public Health Bengaluru

Road Safety Policy event

by iphindia | Apr 8, 2016 | Latest Updates, Uncategorized

On the occasion of World Health Day, IPH in collaboration with MES College organises an event on Road Safety

PRESS RELEASE

“KARNATAKA GOVT COMMITTED FOR STRONGER ROAD SAFETY POLICY” – Heath minister U.T. Khader

City youngsters want some serious action from the government in this regard.

Bengaluru: Karnataka health minister UT Khader on Wednesday, which also happens to be the eve of “World Health Day”, said that the state government is committed for a stronger road safety policy so that many lives can be saved from road crashes every day.

Participating in a road safety event organized by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), a city-based organization working on research and advocacy in the health sector, on Wednesday, 6 April 2016, Khader said to do their best to attend to the woes of victims of road crashes. The state government has introduced schemes such as Harish Scheme, Bike Ambulances etc. “We understand that a lot needs to be done and for the realization of the same, we are in full support of a stronger road safety policy” he added.

Dr N Devadasan, director of IPH said that “India loses more than 2 lakh people every year on the roads and Karnataka is the fourth worst state for number of road deaths in India. Unfortunately, road safety has not received needed priority from public health experts. IPH that has been working on priority health issues since last 10 years has decided to take up road safety as a priority issue on work front. We are supporting the national campaign for a stronger road safety law and will be presenting a detailed action plan before the state government soon” he added.

Dr Upendra Bhojani, assistant director at IPH opined that state government has taken positive steps such as notifying state road safety policy, mandating helmet use for pillion rider and providing schemes for medical relief to road crash victims. “Having set a positive example, it would be apt to see Karnataka government now pushing for and supporting comprehensive legislation on road safety at national level.”

Students want govt. to save young lives

On the occasion, students from M.E.S. Teachers college, well-known education institution in the city, thanked the Karnataka government for the steps taken to ensure safety to lives on the road, and they also requested the ministers for a stronger intervention from the government to form a better road safety policy.

Dr. Vishal Rao, renowned Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon from HCG Hospital, Prof. H. S. Ganesh Bhatt, principal of M.E.S. Teacher College and students took part in the event.

Road Safety Presentation By Dr Upendra Bhojani Click here

Road safety program, public health, public health management, Health system, world health day

Intervening in the local health system to improve diabetes care

by iphindia | Dec 2, 2015 | Latest Updates

Intervening in the local health system to improve diabetes care: lessons from a health service experiment in a poor urban neighborhood in India

Many efficacious health service interventions to improve diabetes care are known. However, there is little evidence on whether such interventions are effective while delivered in real-world resource constrained settings. In order to generate such knowledge, we evaluated an intervention aimed at improving diabetes care using the RE-AIM (reach, efficacy/effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework.The intervention included provision of culturally appropriate education to diabetes patients, use of generic medications, and standard treatment guidelines for diabetes management.

We conducted a quasi-experimental study in a poor urban neighborhood in South India where four health facilities delivered the intervention and the four matched facilities served as control. Patients were surveyed before and after the six-month intervention period. We did field observations and interviews with the doctors at the intervention facilities. Of the patients who visited intervention facilities, 52.3% were exposed to the education component and only 7.2% were prescribed generic medications. The doctors rarely used the standard treatment guidelines for diabetes management. The intervention did not have a statistically and clinically significant impact on the knowledge, healthcare expenditure, or glycemic control of the patients, with marginal reduction in their practice score. All the facilities adopted the education component, while all but one facility adopted the prescription of generic medications. There was poor implementation of the intervention, particularly with regard to the use of generic medications and the standard treatment guidelines.

Doctors’ concerns about the efficacy, quality, availability, and acceptability by patients of generic medications explained limited prescriptions of generic medications. The patients’ perception that ailments should be treated through medications limited the use of non-medical management by the doctors in early stages of diabetes. The other reason for the limited use of the standard treatment guidelines was that these doctors mainly provided follow-up care to patients who were previously put on a given treatment plan by specialists. In conclusion, implementing efficacious health service intervention in a real-world resource-constrained setting is challenging and may not prove effective in improving patient outcomes. Interventions need to consider patients’ and healthcare providers’ experiences and perceptions and how macro-level policies translate into practice within local health systems.

Link to know more about this paper reporting on a health service experiment in an urban slum: Click Here