WELFARE STATE
RJ, TN move towards universal health care

The fault lines laid bare by covid have made the public and the mainstream discourse are more attentive towards the state of health care. States are taking up legislation to recognise the right to health care.

#Health Laws #Laws #RAJASTHAN #TAMILNADU
VACCINATIONS
Assaulting dignity in the name of public health

Vaccination policies involving denials of public entitlements are not based on evidence-based science, public health practices or ethics. Instead, they callously disregard the dignity of people's lives

#Food Security
RURAL HEALTH
Odisha pharmacists to fill in for doctors

Facing an acute shortage of doctors at its rural health centres, the state government hopes that some of their work could be done by pharmacists instead. But public health advocates are not so sure.

#Public Health #ODISHA
AFTER THE PANDEMIC
What will endemic Covid look like?
AFTER THE PANDEMIC : What will endemic Covid look like?

Immunity conferred from natural infection and vaccines, patterns of social contact, and virus transmissibility will all play a role in what COVID-19 will look like as it continues to circulate.

#Interviews #Public Health
NUTRITION GARDENS
Local fields of health and livelihood

Odisha's Livelihood Mission promotes local gardens to help adivasis find food security. These also improve nutrition levels, and provide additional income from surplus produce.

#Adivasis #Child Health #Food Security #Livelihoods #Women's Health #ODISHA
COVID VACCINATION
How will increased eligibility change demand?

All persons above the age of 18 can now be vaccinated against covid. On current course, there will be a much larger mismatch between demand and the ability of the system to push out doses.

#Population #Public Health
PANDEMIC SCIENCE
The second wave, illustrated
PANDEMIC SCIENCE : The second wave, illustrated

The pandemic's threat is determined by both the infectiousness of the virus strains and the level of caution that people exhibit. And new strains could keep emerging.

#Public Health
ENERGY SECURITY
Rural LPG: On the back burner
ENERGY SECURITY : Rural LPG: On the back burner

The distribution of LPG to rural households is far from satisfactory. A comprehensive review of the performance and accountability of different institutions in the supply chain is needed.

#Energy #Economy
COVID-19
Battling the pandemic with technology

Start-ups and technology wizards put together the largest ever tele-medicine effort to fight Covid-19. India must use this start to create a National Health Digital Core, says Ramesh Menon.

#Public Health
LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS
Vulnerable to more than the virus
LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS : Vulnerable to more than the virus

The Working Peoples' Charter on Coronavirus Crisis in India lists a number of steps necessary to ensure that the likely disruption to the lives and livelihoods of millions of vulnerable people is thoughtfully addressed.

#Labour Issues #Livelihoods #Economy
WOMEN HEALTH CARE
Our Health, Our Initiative
WOMEN HEALTH CARE : Our Health, Our Initiative

A vocal community demanding its health rights through greater participation local governance is the key to long term change, and this may be finally starting to happen in a few places.

#Public Health #Women's Health #RAJASTHAN
PASSIVE EUTHANASIA
Freedom to choose death
PASSIVE EUTHANASIA : Freedom to choose death

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment has allowed passive euthanasia, thereby giving succour to terminally ill patients and their relatives, but is India culturally ready for this?

#Culture #People
ROTAVIRUS VACCINE
Defeating the deadly diarrhea
ROTAVIRUS VACCINE : Defeating the deadly diarrhea

Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child mortality in our country. Reasonably priced vaccines backed by the government are now available to help stop this malady, says Swapna Majumdar.

#Child Health #Children
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Chugging along in the name of sustainability
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS : Chugging along in the name of sustainability

Kanchi Kohli raises questions on the Voluntary National Review report which shows India’s efforts to achieve seven of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.

#Government #Poverty
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY
Ignorance can lead to blindness
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY : Ignorance can lead to blindness

There are 70 million diabetics in India, 80 percent of them have vision problems about which they are either not aware or lack access to good eye care. Swapna Majumdar reports how NGOs are partnering to reach out to the marginalised and providing them better eye care and prevention.

#Women's Health
EYE CAMP FIASCO
Why must only the poor suffer?
EYE CAMP FIASCO : Why must only the poor suffer?

In Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, people lost their sight after botched up cataract surgeries. Was it because the organizers, the medical and paramedical staff of the district hospital did not take necessary steps? Or was the quality of medication used questionable? Or, because the victims are too marginalised and too poor to protest? Asks Shoma Chatterji.

#Public Health #Poverty #MADHYA PRADESH
WORLD AIDS DAY FEATURE
Surviving stigma: HIV care and the aftermath

Much has been said about India’s success in containing the spread of the AIDS epidemic. But can it build on the progress so far and ensure that survivors receive the dignity and social security they need? Pushpa Achanta’s conversations on the eve of World AIDS Day aren’t heartening.

#AIDS #Health Laws
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY
How long before we can address mental health issues humanely

On World Mental Health Day, Pushpa Achanta shares the struggle of some mental illness survivors she met recently and hopes that our nation's Mental Health Program is implemented by the government earnestly.

SANITATION & HYGIENE
Slum dwellers in Assam suffer from poor sanitation and hygiene

Sanitary conditions in most of the slum areas in Assam are abysmal. Ignorance about cleanliness, lack of water supply and proper working toilets, absence of covered drainage and sewage, and no action from the local and state government are to be blamed for the mess, reports Nilotpal Bhattacharjee.

#Sanitation #Urban Environment #ASSAM
MENSTRUAL HYGIENE
Why rural girls need more than just sanitary napkins

Handing out non-biodegradable sanitary pads to rural school girls who have reached menarche will not address their menstrual hygiene issue. Clean and functional toilets with water supply, awareness about menstruation, economical and biodegradable pads and more is needed, finds Puja Awasthi.

#Girls' Education #Women's Health
ACCESS TO HEALTH
Nowhere near to being a healthy nation

The out-of-pocket health expenditure by the poor is spiraling and the government spending on public health care is reducing. The existing public health programes and insurance schemes are failing; private health care sector is not properly regulated; Shambhu Ghatak finds the health of our nation worrisome.

#Health Laws
DISABILITY IN DELHI
In the national capital, no policy for Persons with Disabilities

The Comptroller and Auditor General performance audit of the social welfare schemes for Persons with Disabilities run by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Delhi, covering the years from 2009 to 2014, which got tabled recently brought forth some shocking facts, writes Himanshu Upadhyaya.

#Disability #DELHI
TOILETS FOR ALL
India’s sanitation puzzle: Missing the complete picture?

The focus on ending open defecation and ensuring a toilet in every home is a limited one. Lasting success will require a much larger focus on sanitation, writes Aditya Bhol.

#Sanitation #Urban Poor

Podcasts from Takshashila Institution.
  • The shadow pandemic: Impact of COVID-19 on mental health in India
  • A global overview of COVID-19 booster shots
  • Creating an epidemic intelligence agency
  • Can vaccine mandates work?
  • Vaccinating kids: A parent’s perspective
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India Together has partnered with The Takshashila Institution to bring our readers all episodes of the policy chat podcast series, All Things Policy. The podcasts are tagged based on the taxonomy IT uses to archive its own content, so readers can find the various episodes in the respective Section and Topic pages.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
in each topic ...
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AIDS DISABILITY MENTAL HEALTH POPULATION PUBLIC HEALTH SANITATION WOMEN'S HEALTH HEALTH LAWS