India has the necessary digitized data systems in place to provide us with the mortality data we need, but yet due to some critical disconnects, we remain reliant on external global institutions for even state and national burden of disease estimates. In this conversation Dr. Chalapathi Rao, discusses how it is possible for state governments to generate reliable annual district level mortality information- even in the short run.
Conversations on Health Policy
“Universal Health Coverage” was once hailed as “the single most important concept that public health has to offer.” ( Margaret Chan, 2012). But , even by WHO and UN assessments, it is off track, across most low and middle income countries !! In this conversation we look beyond implementation issues and disruption due the covid pandemic, to more basic questions about UHC as a strategy and as a discourse.”
Global Health Policies in an unequal world are more the resultant of political dynamics than of the public good. Introducing the WHO Tracker, a unique and powerful tool created by PHM, which empowers public health professionals, practitioners and policy makers in developing nations to understand and intervene in global policy setting and its adaptation to local needs. Use this to follow the ongoing discussions in the 77th World Health Assembly at Geneva.
We know that markets do not work to assure quality health care!! But what does? Over the last 15 years, the NHM has developed the National Quality Assurance System (NQAS) to assure quality in public health services. What is NQAS? Is it working? Is it scaleable? Is it enough? This conversation between Yogesh Jain and Sundararaman, the 8th in our series, explores the answers!!
The challenge is to secure ASHAs own rights as a woman and a front line health worker, while continuing to strengthen her solidarity with the community as part of an alternative vision of an organization of health services.
Four years after the pandemic, we have learnt a lot about it. But there is a lot we do not know as well. This is a time for reminding ourselves of what we went through and learning from it- so that we can truly say– never again !!
Much of what is said in the Negotiating Text of Pandemic Agreement is necessary and welcome. But is it sufficient to ensure that we never again have to experience the social, economic, health and human rights catastrophe that we have just been through during the Covid 19 pandemic??”
This is a picture of a 18 month old girl with severe pain due to dactylitis. Needless suffering. !!. The current policy is aspirational but flawed and needs to get it’s priorities right …
A better understanding of these three concepts and the relationship between them is essential for progress towards realization of the right to healthcare. One cannot be achieved without the other…
Preparations are on for the High Level Meeting of the United Nations on Antimicrobial Resistance, scheduled for September 2024. The proposed strategies are welcome but incomplete. There is much more that a Call for Action should address…