Tag: health policy

Culture & Life · Medicine & Doctors · Public health

Transitioning from Delayed Death to Dignified Death, and How Kerala Shows the Way

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This was published in Huffington Post India on March 20, 2017. Here is the link, and below is an excerpt: In our country, discussions over this most crucial trade-off rarely happen in communications between persons having terminal illness and their family (or doctors). To quote Gawande, modern medicine is good at staving off death with… Continue reading Transitioning from Delayed Death to Dignified Death, and How Kerala Shows the Way

Medicine & Doctors · Politics · Public health

Demonetisation and Public Health: Only a Welfare-Intensive Budget 2017 Can Now Help BJP Save Face

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This was carried by HuffPost India on Nov 28 2016. Here is the link, and below is an excerpt. “It’s because, just like with demonetisation, the nation leaves them with no other choice. We let government hospitals crumble, and force our poor to go to those, ostensibly for the “greater benefit of the nation”. Because… Continue reading Demonetisation and Public Health: Only a Welfare-Intensive Budget 2017 Can Now Help BJP Save Face

Medicine & Doctors · Politics · Public health

Modi’s Mom and a Chaiwallah’s Mom: The Case for Universal Health Coverage in India

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This was published in the Times of India as an op-ed, on Oct 13 2016. Here is the link. Below is an extract: “Few phrases in the public health literature capture the kind of raw agony that ‘catastrophic health expenditure’ does. I know that well, for my family is a rickshaw-walla’s family. A fractured bone… Continue reading Modi’s Mom and a Chaiwallah’s Mom: The Case for Universal Health Coverage in India

Medicine & Doctors · Politics · Public health · Recommended movies, books etc.

‘The Private Insurance Trap’ – Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze

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Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze are vehement advocates for universal health coverage. In their fine 2012 book An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions, they devote an entire chapter to ‘India’s Health Care Crisis’. One of the important topics they discuss is the proliferation of govt-sponsored insurance schemes (relying on private insurance companies) over the past… Continue reading ‘The Private Insurance Trap’ – Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze

Medicine & Doctors · Public health

The Role Society Plays in Perpetuating Medical Corruption

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This book review was published in thewire.in on Sep 4 2016. Here is the link. Below is an excerpt: One of the most important points made in this book pertains to revamping what is called the ‘Indian medical register’ and making it more useful for the common public. Not many people are aware that the… Continue reading The Role Society Plays in Perpetuating Medical Corruption

Medicine & Doctors · Politics · Public health

Is Private Health Care the Answer to the Health Problems of India’s Poor?

Kiran Kumbhar1 Comment

[Before we delve in, perhaps it is important to clarify that most such debates are not about whether private and public health sectors are ‘good/bad’ or necessary/unnecessary. It is implied that both are essential. The debate is more regarding which one should be the ‘model’ or the dominant system in a community; and regarding which… Continue reading Is Private Health Care the Answer to the Health Problems of India’s Poor?

Medicine & Doctors · Public health

Delhi HC judgement banning Ayurvedic etc doctors from practising ‘modern medicine’

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The landmark Delhi High Court judgement of 8th April 2016, which bans Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani doctors from practising modern ‘allopathic’ medicine: The main contentions of the Indian Systems of Medicine (ISoM) advocates were: 1. ISoM practitioners are allowed through Delhi Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad Act 1998 (DBCP Act) to practice modern scientific system of medicine in… Continue reading Delhi HC judgement banning Ayurvedic etc doctors from practising ‘modern medicine’

Cinema & Bollywood · Medicine & Doctors · Public health

These Movies Show How Sending Doctors To Villages Isn’t The Cure For Rural Healthcare in India

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This article was published in HuffPost India on 27 June 16. Here is the link. Below is an excerpt: In many community health centres and district hospitals, for example, surgeons frequently cannot operate because surgical and radiological facilities are not modernized, and obstetricians are often compelled to refer patients elsewhere (generally expensive private hospitals) because… Continue reading These Movies Show How Sending Doctors To Villages Isn’t The Cure For Rural Healthcare in India