Evaluation of the Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) management component under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) in Kerala, India, 2021-22.

Background And Objective: We evaluated the DR-TB component of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP) in a high-burden district in Kerala to identify the programmatic gaps, if any, in screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of notified DR-TB patients.

Methods: A mixed-methods design was used, and the evaluation was performed in two steps. In the first step, we reviewed the program documents and conducted stakeholder interviews to develop a detailed description of the program design and developed a logical framework to evaluate program performance.

Need for operational simplicity and timely disbursal of benefits-a qualitative exploration of the implementation of a direct benefit transfer scheme for persons with tuberculosis in India.

Background: Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) is a direct benefit transfer scheme of the Government of India introduced in 2018 to support the additional nutritional requirements of persons with TB (PwTB). Our recent nationwide evaluation of implementation and utilization of NPY using programmatic data of PwTB from nine randomly selected Indian states, reported a 70% coverage and high median delay in benefit credit. We undertook a qualitative study between January and July 2023, to understand the detailed implementation process of NPY and explore the enablers and barriers to effective implementation and utilization of the NPY scheme.

Process evaluation of a complex, multilevel, multicomponent scheme for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Tamil Nadu, India: A mixed-methods protocol.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India, necessitating development of multilevel and multicomponent interventions. (MTM) is a complex multilevel, multicomponent intervention developed and implemented by the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The scheme aims to deliver services for preventing and controlling diabetes, and hypertension at doorstep.

Baseline findings of a multicentric ambispective cohort study (2021-2022) among hospitalised mucormycosis patients in India.

In India, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021-2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, we established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India. In this paper, we report their baseline profile, clinical characteristics and outcomes at discharge.

COVID-19 and Multiple Inequalities The Case of a Coastal Community in Kerala.

Despite the overall achievements, Kerala's handling of its first case of community transmission in the coastal village of Poonthura came under severe criticism. In this article, the potential pathways to the resistance raised by the fisherfolk in Poonthura are explored, thereby placing their responses as historically and politically embedded ones.

Multi-morbidity and blood pressure control: Results of a cross-sectional study among school teachers in Kerala, India.

The patterns of concordant and discordant comorbidities of hypertension and their association with hypertension control were ascertained in this cross-sectional study. A total of 402 adults with hypertension were identified from the baseline survey of a randomized controlled trial for hypertension control among school teachers in Kerala. Chronic conditions were captured and categorized into concordant and discordant comorbidities.

India's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Frontal Assault on the "Historically Dispossessed".

During the nationwide lockdown as part of the state response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the predicament of interstate migrant laborers in India, caught in crowded cities without means of livelihood and basic resources needed to sustain life, gained national and international attention. This article explores the context of the current migrant crisis through the historical trajectories and political roots of internal migration in India and its relationship with the urban informal labor market and the structural determinants of precarious employment. We argue that the both the response to the pandemic and the disproportionate impact on migrant laborers are reflections and consequences of an established pattern of neglect and poor accountability of the state toward the employment and living conditions of migrant workers who toil precariously in the informal labor market.

Autonomy and risk in health policy and systems research.

Health policy and systems research (HPSR), a critical area of public health research, aims to enhance our understanding about how health systems function and how health policies are generated and implemented. HPSR predominantly operates in "real life contexts" of communities or institutions..

Use of critical reflection as a research method: A case of research-induced distress?

Critical reflection is widely used in qualitative research (1). It helps us understand participants' internal dialogues and analyse their thought processes. The use of oral or written reflections is a well-documented data collection method, particularly in educational research.

Conceptual Framework Explaining "Preparedness for Practice" of Dental Graduates: A Systematic Review.

The lack of a comprehensive conceptual framework explaining the construct of "preparedness for dental practice" necessitates an in-depth exploration and synthesis of the literature. The aim of this systematic review of the literature was to develop a conceptual framework explaining the construct of "preparedness for practice" among dental graduates and to identify the factors influencing the construct through a synthesis of the literature. Articles identified for the review were selected from the databases PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and EBSCO Host.

Globalisation and neoliberalism as structural drivers of health inequities.

In this paper, we draw upon and build on three presentations which were part of the plenary session on 'Structural Drivers of Health Inequities' at the National Conference on Health Inequities in India: Transformative Research for Action, organised by the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies in Trivandrum, India. The three presentations discussed the influential role played by globalisation and neoliberalism in shaping economic, social and political relationships across developed and developing countries. The paper further argues that the twin process of globalisation and liberalisation have been important drivers of health inequities.