There is increasing credence given to “respectful care” in India right now, especially in the field of maternal health. Treating patients with respect, honoring privacy and confidentiality, are key components of effective care, but they’ve long being considered an exotic and optional “add-on”. The link that I see missing is respectful treatment of health […]
The Male Contraceptive Initiative Imagining a future where there is better partner dialogue about reproductive health A friend of mine has recently taken on the role of heading the Male Contraceptive Initiative. It took a while before the revolutionary potential of what she was doing sunk in… Managing fertility is so much […]
Although marked by recent controversy, the mid-day meal scheme is one of India’s big success stories. Maybe we forget this, because we don’t hear enough about how great it is – especially in Karnataka. Akshay Patra –one of the main vendors for the scheme in Karnataka – has come under fire for providing bland […]
This is the fifth year of my “Best Books” list – but it’s the first time I’m putting it up on my blog. Now it has become an indispensable way for me to take stock of what I was up to over the past year – as well as share the best of my year […]
Keeping Community-Based Care a Priority In the field of maternal health there has been a big shift towards increasing access to tertiary care. This was important as the majority of maternal deaths were due to causes that could only be dealt with by specialists. But, increasing access to hospital-based care can seem like a fraught […]
Taking India’s Health Care Successes to America: A Review of Reverse Innovation in Health Care by Vijay Govindarajan and Ravi Ramamurti The US has always marketed itself as the country that has all the answers, although these days that idea is harder to sell. The US health care system, however, has been in crisis for […]
You are safer in the hands of an inexperienced doctor… You may have seen an article that came out a couple of years ago in the Journal of the American Medical Association about how mortalities among heart patients reduced during national cardiology conferences – when all the senior-most doctors were away (if you didn’t you […]
Public health is a very data-driven field. And yet, in India, the numbers are so huge and so startling that we quickly become desensitized to them. We have a population of 1.3 billion people, with 35.7% children underweight (NFHS 2015-6). Once you have accepted this reality, the numbers will no longer move you. Apparently, this […]
Last week I visited Rangiri primary health care centre in Dambulla district, Sri Lanka, with a group of Australian GPs who were there for a continuing medical education program. We were all impressed. The facility had a lovely kitchen garden with cassava, brinjal, leafy greens and chillis. It was clean, well maintained, and full of […]
In this post, I highlight research that identifies the population health benefits of public parks and being outside generally. It includes photos from my friend & award-winning photographer Cop Shiva, taken in Lalbagh. I don’t think I am the only one, who, when I close my eyes and think of my happy place, imagines a place […]
